News From Latitude Aero, Thales, Gogo and Others

LATITUDE AERO

Latitude Aero, a Greensboro-based aerospace company, is growing and expanding into a new location, doubling size and capacity of production. The new facility expects to become fully operational, adding EASA certification, mid-December 2020.

The new 100,000 sf (9,290 sm) facility is located in the same industrial park as the company’s current headquarters at Air Park North, adjacent to PTI Airport. The increased storage and manufacturing space is climate controlled, and will make room for some additions, including a machine shop for OEM fabrication, and a sewing studio for custom seat refurbishment, all under one roof.
President and CEO Kelvin Boyette expressed enthusiasm about how the growth will benefit the Triad and beyond. “Our new headquarters will create fresh revenue and labor here in the area. By operating a facility roughly double the size of our current operation, we’re now able to take on larger projects, run production simultaneously, and provide new capabilities to our clients.”

Along with the new facility and new capabilities come new jobs. Latitude Aero will be looking to hire 15-20 positions in the next 120 days. Positions will include sewing specialists, CNC operators, machinists, and additional seating technicians to handle the increased volume.

Latitude Aero is an aircraft seating overhaul provider that specializes in the integration of inflight entertainment (IFE) and in-seat power (ISPS), to provide economically viable solutions for cabin upgrades of any scope. The new shop in the Seattle Region will service the OEM customer base on the West Coast and will allow the company to provide maintenance and repair to all of North America.

THALES

Thales introduces Ready to Fly – a portfolio of solutions for a safer & healthier travel journey.

After introducing its strategy for a low carbon future enabling a 10% reduction of aircraft CO2 emissions by 2023, Thales is supporting its global airline customers with advanced technologies to restore confidence in air travel by enhancing the health safety and wellness of passengers.
These affordable solutions can be quickly deployed to meet the immediate needs of airlines on new and in-service IFE systems.

The Ready to Fly portfolio of solutions offered by Thales are designed to help our airline customers restore passenger confidence in air travel during the crisis and in a post pandemic world. With Ready to Fly, Thales InFlyt Experience is focused on expediting the industry’s digital transformation through passenger-centric solutions and integrated products as well as services that increase crew efficiency. Ready to Fly solutions enable cabin innovations that reduce touch and mitigate passenger congestion.

The Ready to Fly “touchless” solutions allow passengers to safely control the inflight entertainment system with their personal phone or tablet for a full IFE experience, including digital versions of onboard paper menus, magazines and important safety and health information. To reduce physical interactions with the crew, while maximizing services, the Thales Travel Assistant solution will enable passengers to request and receive automated information on the seatback monitor. The crew will also have the ability to gather information, receive notifications and control the cabin from their own secure personal phone or tablet.

Looking toward the future, Thales is leveraging its robust network of partners to develop cabin automation solutions that decrease congestion, facilitate aircraft disembarking, and manage passenger flow by using synthetic data.

Thales is building a future we can all trust by reimagining the way people travel using advanced and cyber-secured technologies that create a safer, and more connected, digital ecosystem.

“Most important to Thales is that we are here to support our airline customers and work with them to tackle their toughest challenges during these unprecedented times. Our solutions are highly automated, reduce the need of interaction, and increase the efficiency of airline ground and air personnel. Ready to Fly brings multiple innovations that enhance wellness in the cabin while providing the best passenger experience.” Neil James, Vice President, Sales – Thales InFlyt Experience.

IATA

Deep Aviation Losses Continue Till 2021 – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced a revised outlook for airline industry performance in 2020 and 2021. Deep industry losses will continue into 2021, even though performance is expected to improve over the period of the forecast.

A net loss of $118.5 billion is expected for 2020 (deeper than the $84.3 billion forecast in June).
A net loss of $38.7 billion is expected in 2021 (deeper than the $15.8 billion forecast in June).

Performance factors in 2021 will show improvements on 2020; and the second half of 2021 is expected to see improvements after a difficult 2021 first half. Aggressive cost-cutting is expected to combine with increased demand during 2021 (due to the re-opening of borders with testing and/or the widespread availability of a vaccine) to see the industry turn cash-positive in the fourth quarter of 2021 which is earlier than previously forecast.

“This crisis is devastating and unrelenting. Airlines have cut costs by 45.8%, but revenues are down 60.9%. The result is that airlines will lose $66 for every passenger carried this year for a total net loss of $118.5 billion. This loss will be reduced sharply by $80 billion in 2021. But the prospect of losing $38.7 billion next year is nothing to celebrate. We need to get borders safely re-opened without quarantine so that people will fly again. And with airlines expected to bleed cash at least until the fourth quarter of 2021 there is no time to lose,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

GOGO

Gogo Inc. announced it has completed the sale of its Commercial Aviation (CA) business to a subsidiary of Intelsat S.A. for $400 million in cash. Gogo will continue as a publicly traded company, now singularly focused on leveraging its ATG network and proprietary spectrum to serve the business aviation market. The proceeds from the transaction significantly strengthen Gogo’s financial position by reducing its net debt position and enhancing the company’s ability to invest in growth opportunities, including Gogo 5G.

“The completion of the sale of our CA business to Intelsat marks the beginning of a new chapter for Gogo; we are a leader in business aviation and now turn our singular focus toward serving that attractive market,” said Oakleigh Thorne, President and CEO of Gogo. “Our business aviation division has proven resilient in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the number of business aircraft online today has nearly returned to January levels.”

“Looking forward, we see great opportunity to create value for our customers, employees and shareholders,” Thorne said. “And on behalf of all of us at Gogo, I want to extend my sincere thanks to the talented CA team that joins Intelsat today. The opportunities that await them are a testament to their unwavering dedication and commitment to Gogo and their aviation partners.”

Immediately following closing, and after Gogo’s $53 million semi-annual interest payments in November, Gogo had approximately $460 million in cash-on-hand and net debt of approximately $770 million. As previously disclosed, Gogo intends to undertake a comprehensive refinancing prior to the first call date of its senior secured notes in May 2021 to align its balance sheet with its new business structure, reduce its interest expense, and facilitate the repayment at maturity of Gogo’s convertible notes, of which $238 million aggregate principal amount are currently outstanding.

Gogo expects to provide an update on its strategic and long-term financial planning process on its fourth quarter earnings call.

OTHER NEWS

The second-largest radio telescope in the world is shutting down – this is quite sad since a lot of space/planet knowledge was gained from it as it sat in Puerto Rico for 57 years!
This is kind of aviation interesting – Emirates’ Big Problem (not what you think) – YouTube

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, December 1, 2020 at 6:51 pm
Filed under Hot Topics · Tagged with Gogo, IATA, Intelsat, Latitude Aero, Thales

Gogo and Intelsat Strike A Deal

GOGO and INTELSAT

Gogo Inc. announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Commercial Aviation (CA) business to Intelsat S.A. (“Intelsat”) for $400 million in cash, subject to customary adjustments. The Gogo Board of Directors has approved the transaction. Intelsat expects to finance the transaction utilizing cash on hand and borrowings under its $1 billion debtor-in-possession credit facility and has obtained support from key economic stakeholders, as well as approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, to complete the acquisition. The transaction, which is expected to close before the end of the first quarter 2021, remains subject to customary closing conditions and certain regulatory approvals.

“Following a competitive strategic review process, we’re confident this transaction unlocks the full value of the CA business for shareholders,” said Oakleigh Thorne, Gogo’s President and CEO. “Combining CA, the leading inflight connectivity provider, with Intelsat, the world’s largest global satellite operator, will create the leading vertically-integrated IFC business in the world, with the additional resources and scale to support continued growth and innovation as demand for commercial air travel recovers.”

“With shared values and a clear commitment to working with the CA team to grow the business, we are confident Intelsat is the right partner. I am extremely grateful for the CA team’s efforts – particularly over the past few months. Today’s announcement is a testament to the strength of the business they have built,” Thorne said.

Gogo, which will remain a public company, will use the proceeds from the transaction to improve its net debt position and continue to invest in growth opportunities such as Gogo 5G. With greater financial flexibility, including a lower cost of capital over time, the new Gogo will be better positioned to enhance the scale and profitability of its Business Aviation (BA) segment, which is uniquely well-positioned in an attractive and under-penetrated market.

“This transaction creates a stronger and more focused Gogo, with the singular strategic imperative of serving the business aviation market with the best inflight connectivity and entertainment products in the world,” Thorne said. “The BA market continues its sharp recovery and strong demand growth trajectory, and our BA segment is exceptionally well-positioned to drive long-term value creation in that industry.”

As part of the transaction, Gogo will enter into a 10-year network services agreement under which Intelsat will have exclusive access to Gogo ATG services for the CA market in North America, subject to minimum revenue guarantees of $177.5 million.

Intelsat intends to operate the CA business as an independent business unit, led by current CA President John Wade. The CA business will remain based in Chicago.

FLYING COLOURS

Flying Colours Corp., the North America-headquartered refurbishment, completions and MRO specialist, has redelivered a third modified Bombardier Challenger 850 to an undisclosed Fortune 500 company. The aircraft was originally completed from green by Flying Colours in an executive VIP layout and returned to Flying Colours for reconfiguration as a 19-passenger corporate shuttle this spring.

HAMBURG AVIATION

In 2021, in view of the global Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on global air travel, there will be two special categories for the Crystal Cabin Award, the leading global accolade for innovations in the field of aircraft cabin and on-board products: “Clean & Safe Air Travel” and the “Judges‘ Choice Award”.

The two categories were developed by a task force of the Crystal Cabin Award Association, which is led by Hamburg Aviation, in collaboration with members of the expert jury, spread over four continents. “Clean & Safe Air Travel” is targeted at innovations for aircraft in the areas of health, hygiene, safety, and cleanliness. The “Judges’ Choice Award” has been designed for entries that would otherwise have been submitted in one of the eight regular categories, including Cabin Systems and In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity. The two special categories will also be open for student submissions

Award ceremony in April 2021 in Hamburg

Winners of these special categories shall, as always for the Crystal Cabin Award, be chosen by an international jury of almost 30 experts in parallel with the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg in April 2021. At the same time, winners of the coveted trophies will also be selected from the existing finalists in the eight main categories. The current Crystal Cabin Award round was temporarily suspended in March this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Entries for the two special categories may be lodged online at www.crystal-cabin-award.com from 1 October.

New format: “Crystal Cabin meets…” podcast launched

There have already been successful solutions for on-board hygiene among the finalists and winners of the previous 14 years of the Crystal Cabin Award. Now, a new podcast series has been launched, “Crystal Cabin meets…”, available at www.crystal-cabin-award.com, with experts from the aviation industry and former entrants talking about their experiences over recent months and what they expect the future to bring.
First up are the companies Dimer and Honeywell. The former was a finalist in 2017 with its “GermFalcon” concept, a cabin trolley to be pushed through the aircraft during ground time, killing bacteria with UV light. The Covid-19 pandemic has seen a leap in interest in the product, and it is now being marketed as Honeywell UV Cabin System as part of a strategic partnership, with real-life airline tests already underway. The “Crystal Cabin meets…” podcast can be heard on the official website and on important podcast platforms such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

BOEING

Boeing donated $10.6 million to a group of 20 nonprofits working to address racial equity and social justice in the United States. The funding package is part of the company’s previously announced multi-year commitment that includes a mix of local and national-level grants aimed at increasing the number of minority and underserved students pursuing science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and diversifying the aerospace talent pipeline. Grant money also will fund programs that work to address criminal justice reform and health care gaps in underserved and minority communities.

“At Boeing, we acknowledge the toll that systemic racism and social injustice have had on people of color, particularly Black communities here in the United States,” said David Calhoun, Boeing president and CEO. “As we work internally to confront these issues, we also remain focused on addressing the causes and impacts of racism and social inequality in the communities where our employees live and work. With today’s financial commitment to this group of nonprofit partners, we are hopeful that together, we can begin to make real advances in our ongoing pursuit of equality.”

The announcement builds on Boeing’s history of partnering with organizations that improve access for and address inequities in communities of color. Over the past five years, Boeing has invested more than $120 million to support under-served communities – including racial equity and social justice programs in those communities – across the United States. Boeing plans to make additional announcements related to its racial equity and social justice investment strategy in the future.

OTHER NEWS

Heard of the Celia aircraft? The Potentially Revolutionary Celera 500L Aircraft Officially Breaks Cover – The Drive You Will!
Aviation Game anyone? ‘Airplane Mode’ Wants to Be the Worst Real-Time Flight Simulator – Review Geek
And, if you were wondering about a supersonic airliner aircraft – here is one! The Colorado startup dreaming up a return to supersonic flight | Engadget
We had never heard of Lillian Bland who, we understand, flew her own self built airplane in 1910 (Amelia Earhart was only 10 then)! Here’s more – Lilian Bland: The Flying Feminist Who Built Her Own Plane Why didn’t we ever hear of her?
Ugh! Opinion: Forget International Travel For A While? | Aviation Week Network
A historic flight – Historic Israel-UAE flight opens possibility for $6.5B in trade | Seeking Alpha
Aviation Tekkie Bob Bogash sent us a note on the potential manufacturing move of the Boeing 787 from Everett, Washington to South Carolina (presently, components of the aircraft are manufactured in both locations). His comments reflect a long history of acquired companies and closed manufacturing/production locations that irredeemably changed the economies of the cities that once housed those major aviation production facilities.: ”Well, you heard it here first, picture aerospace in SoCal or Long Island – a distant memory, and by increasingly few people to boot, replaced by Costco (no exaggeration – in 1963 I worked at Douglas in Culver City, a giant plant with 8,000 engineers building the Thor, Thor-Delta, and the S-IVB third stage for the Saturn V (and DC-8 engine pylons.) I went back past that place in 1995, it was just a vacant lot. Now – it’s a Costco.) Right next door was the Hughes Aircraft plant and airfield. They built 269A helicopters and did a lot of classified work. Hughes had a 10,000 ft runway where B-52s and B-58s used to land. Check it out on a sat pic and you will only one building is still standing from that giant facility. Grumman Bethpage is another example. There are many – (BTW, Hughes sold the 269A (later 300) helo to Schweitzer Aircraft (of glider fame) in Elmira, NY; they also built Grumman Agcats – crop dusting biplanes. Sikorsky bought Schweitzer, Lockheed bought Sikorsky; the Schweitzer plant was closed.)
Expect Renton to head down the same road. As the 737 builds out its backlog, anything new (????) will get built elsewhere, and Renton will become waterfront condo’s and Home Depots. But, there will be a plaque.
On 8/22/20 9:01 AM, wallawine1@gmail.com wrote: Rep. Larsen, who participated, said Stan Deal offered reassurance that “our presence in Washington is unwavering.” The operative word is “presence” – that could mean a rented office in a strip mall with Boeing on the door.”
Bob also noted: “With the foxes running the hen house, soon all the chickens will be gone, and then the hen house will be converted into a pig sty.”
Bob B.

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, September 1, 2020 at 5:20 pm
Filed under Hot Topics · Tagged with Airlines, aviaiton, Connectivity, Gogo, Intelsat

Strategic Alliances, The First 737 MAX Sale of the Year, and Gogo’s AVANCE L5 System

SATCOM DIRECT

MySky, the only AI-powered spend management platform designed for the private aviation industry, and Satcom Direct (SD), the business aviation solutions provider, announced a strategic alliance enabling seamless access to real-time data for private aviation. Subscribers to MySky and SD will greatly benefit from an all-encompassing approach to aircraft management that combines operational and financial information into a single source of data, the SD Pro® platform.

Designed to bring transparency to the industry for the first time, MySky provides unrivaled access to financial data and proprietary IT tools that help owners and operators reduce costs, refine spending and improve the overall aircraft ownership experience. SD Pro, the digital management dashboard, provides relevant and timely information about pre- to- post flight aircraft performance to aircraft operators around the world. An open architecture platform, SD Pro adds value to the user experience through the integration of third-party suppliers. As a result of the integration with MySky, SD will add a financial component to its SD Pro platform.

The agreement between MySky and SD will allow for a full 360-degree approach to business aviation management, promoting a fiduciary duty among industry stakeholders. Through the SD Pro platform, aircraft operators will have direct access to financial and operational information from both MySky and SD. The integrated data can increase longevity of ownership and improve the overall ownership experience. The aggregated information enables better informed, proactive decisions in real-time, heightening control and efficiency. Rote tasks can be automated to increase productivity and reallocate valuable human resources.

“At MySky, our goal is to bring increased transparency and accountability to the private aviation industry by ensuring stakeholders have the necessary tools to better understand and manage the costs of their assets,” said Kirill Kim, co-founder and CEO of MySky. “By combining our industry-leading financial data with SD’s detailed operational information, I’m confident that this alliance will help stakeholders better navigate the long-time obstacles associated with private aviation management.”

“SD is dedicated to delivering advanced technological capabilities to our customers. With the integration of MySky into the SD Pro platform, we are adding a significant resource to the operational mix by providing a business management tool that complements our operations-focused products. We are excited to work closely with the MySky team to foster industry growth and long-term sustainability for our clients,” said Chris Moore, SD president of business aviation.

BOEING

Boeing and Enter Air announced the Polish airline is expanding its commitment to the 737 family with a new order for two 737-8 airplanes plus options for two more jets.

An all-Boeing operator and Poland’s biggest charter carrier, Enter Air began operations in 2010 with a single 737 airplane. Today, the airline’s fleet includes 22 Next-Generation 737s and two 737 MAX airplanes. When the new purchase agreement is fully exercised, Enter Air’s 737 MAX fleet will rise to 10 aircraft.

“Despite the current crisis, it is important to think about the future. To that end, we have agreed to order additional 737-8 aircraft. Following the rigorous checks that the 737 MAX is undergoing, I am convinced it will be the best aircraft in the world for many years to come,” said Grzegorz Polaniecki, general director and board member, Enter Air.

Enter Air and Boeing also finalized a settlement to address the commercial impacts stemming from the grounding of the 737 MAX fleet. While the details of the agreement are confidential, the compensation will be provided in a number of forms and staggered over a period of time.

“In the settlement with Boeing, we agreed to revise the delivery schedule for the previously-ordered airplanes in response to current market conditions. The specific terms of the settlement are strictly confidential, but we are pleased with the way Boeing has treated us as its customer,” added Polaniecki.

“We are humbled by Enter Air’s commitment to the Boeing 737 family. Their order for additional 737-8s underscores their confidence in the airplane and the men and women of Boeing,” said Ihssane Mounir, senior vice president of Commercial Sales and Marketing, The Boeing Company. “We look forward to building on our decade-long partnership with Enter Air and working with the airline to safely return their full 737 fleet to commercial service.”

GOGO (Biz Jet Info)

Gogo Business Aviation has once again set a new standard for inflight connectivity with its AVANCE L5 system now installed and flying on 1,000 business jets.

It’s a milestone Gogo reached in less than three years following the first installation, making it the most successful adoption of any high-speed broadband inflight connectivity system in business aviation history. In addition to the 1,000 L5 installations, Gogo is nearing 450 installations for the AVANCE L3 system. Combined, the nearly 1,500 AVANCE system installations highlights Gogo’s leadership in inflight connectivity in business aviation.

“Our team hit it out of the park with both the AVANCE L5 and L3 systems,” said Sergio Aguirre, president of Gogo Business Aviation. “And what’s so exciting to me is that we still have so much opportunity ahead of us.”

The Gogo AVANCE L5 delivers a 4G experience to business aircraft of all types and sizes, from light jets to the largest global business jets, and provides the easiest and most economical upgrade path to Gogo 5G when it launches. From the time AVANCE L5 launched in the fourth quarter of 2017, more than 325,000 flights have taken off with the system onboard, flying more than 420,000 hours and 211 million miles, and users consuming 150 million megabytes of data.

“We couldn’t have achieved this milestone without the great partnerships we’ve built over more than 25 years with the market-leading business jet manufacturers, our dealers, and charter and fractional operators,” Aguirre said. “Even during the COVID-19 pandemic that has had such a dramatic impact on all of aviation, we continued to see a healthy demand from the market for our AVANCE systems.”

Gogo and its OEM partners and dealers have also experienced substantial adoption of both AVANCE L5 and L3 on a retrofit basis with more than 200 supplemental type certificate (STC) approvals from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Both L3 and L5 systems are linefit factory options on the majority of business jets of all types and sizes from the world’s largest business aircraft manufacturers.

The Gogo AVANCE L5 system connects to the Gogo Biz 4G network delivering faster speeds and enhanced network capacity enabling activities such as live streaming video and audio, video conferencing, on-demand movies, faster web browsing, personal smartphone use, real-time data for cockpit apps, and remote diagnostics and support while in flight.
Early in 2018, Gogo launched AVANCE L3, a system that delivers the benefits of the Gogo AVANCE platform to passengers and flight departments in a lightweight, smaller form factor compared to L5. AVANCE L3 allows users to customize their inflight experience based on their unique needs and can be installed on business aircraft of all types and sizes, but is an ideal solution for smaller aircraft including turboprops and light jets.

In total, at the end of the second quarter 2020, Gogo Business Aviation reported 5,399 aircraft flying with its air-to-ground (ATG) systems onboard and also 4,704 aircraft flying with satellite systems onboard.

OTHER NEWS

We are real Apple fans!
And because we are Apple fans, we also are fans of the gentleman who said; “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
Who said it? Steve Jobs, Apple’s founder gave those words during a Commencement Address at Stanford on June 12, 2005. Today his company is worth $2 Trillion dollars, and unfortunately, he is no longer alive. However, some things he said were far, far ahead of other philosophical suggestions and submittals! We are linking the article from Stanford which is his address at the commencement, and, as he noted – “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”
Text of Steve Jobs’ Commencement address (2005)
(Editor’s Note: While there is no question that Steve Jobs was the miracle behind Apple, an engineer named Steve Wozniak was the ‘brains’ behind the Mac, and no Apple story would be complete without him. Wozniak is a genius and is still alive today, involved with a lot of technology and good will. When he started, Mac was not necessarily on his mind: “My dream was actually just to have a computer some day. If I’d imagined that it meant starting a company to sell them, I probably would have avoided the whole thing.” While looking for a final quote from Wozniak that readers would identify with, we found this and it sums up his world quite well: “In the end, I hope there’s a little note somewhere that says I designed a good computer.” Yes Mr. Wozniak, you really, really did!)
Industry sources indicate that American Airlines is preparing to cut 19,000 jobs by October 1, 2020 and Delta Air Lines is also planning to furlough nearly 2,000 pilots in October.
Just so you know, there will be a potential asteroid impact on earth Nov. 2 this year. Chances asteroid 2018VPI will hit the earth is 1 in 240 probability, because the miss range will be 4,994.76 km away. And, since it is only 6.5 ft. wide, no worries!
So, a former engineer asked us: “So with all this anti-virus technology being developed and used, I have a question: Are we setting ourselves up for creating a ‘super-virus’ by using so much anti-viral spray or UV light treatments? I mean, we have all heard before how a treatment or vaccine kills MOST of the germs/virus, but some still survives and over time, the surviving germs/virus become immune to ‘standard’ treatments and thus become ‘super-bugs.’ So all this use of sprays on aircraft or rental cars or hotel rooms; and other places etc. Are we setting ourselves up for an even bigger problem in the future? Just wondering . . . and if anyone knows, can you verify for me whether or not the UV wavelength that kills the virus does or doesn’t deteriorate the fabrics and materials on cars, planes, and train . . . thus increasing maintenance and replacement costs?” (We will forward your response – Editor)

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, August 25, 2020 at 4:20 pm
Filed under Hot Topics · Tagged with 737 MAX, aircraft, Connectivity, Gogo, passengers

Gogo Announces Second Quarter 2020 Financial Results

Chicago | August 10, 2020– Gogo (NASDAQ: GOGO), the leading global provider of broadband connectivity products and services for aviation, today announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2020.

Read Full Release

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, August 11, 2020 at 2:55 pm
Filed under News Releases · Tagged with 2020, 2Q, COVID-19, financials, Gogo

Gogo Announces First Quarter 2020 Financial Results

Highlights Actions to Manage Impact of COVID-19 on Aviation Markets

Chicago, IL | May 11, 2020–Gogo (NASDAQ: GOGO), the leading global provider of broadband connectivity products and services for aviation, today announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2020.

Q1 2020 Financial Highlights

Consolidated revenue of $184.5 million; Net loss of $84.8 million, which includes charges of $46.4 million related to the impairment of certain long-lived assets and $6.8 million in additional credit loss reserves taken during the quarter.
Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ of $25.7 million.
BA Reportable Segment Profit of $35.9 million, up 6% from Q1 2019.
Cash Flow from Operating Activities of $38.0 million; Free Cash Flow⁽¹⁾ of $22.7 million.
Cash and cash equivalents were $214.2 million as of March 31, 2020, including $22 million drawn in March from the Company’s ABL Credit Facility. This compares to cash and cash equivalents of $170.0 million as of December 31, 2019.
Reached 1,511 2Ku and 1,758 total CA satellite aircraft online as of March 31, 2020, with a backlog of ~800 2Ku aircraft⁽²⁾. In Q1 2020, 2Ku aircraft online increased by 104.

Summary of Actions in Response to COVID-19 Related Decline in Air Traffic

On April 22, 2020, the Company announced comprehensive actions in response to the COVID-19 related decline in air traffic. These measures include:
- A furlough of approximately 54% of the workforce effective May 4, 2020. The furloughs impact approximately 600 employees across all three of Gogo’s business segments and corporate personnel.
- Compensation reductions for nearly all personnel not impacted by furlough, including 30% for the CEO and Board of Directors and 20% for the executive leadership team.
- Ongoing negotiations with suppliers and customers to improve contract terms, the delay of aircraft equipment installations, the deferral of capital equipment purchases, and the reduction of marketing, travel and non-essential spend.
- The submission of applications to the U.S. Treasury Department for an $81 million grant and a $150 million loan under the recently enacted CARES Act. If Gogo receives government assistance, it will modify the announced personnel actions to comply with the terms of that assistance.

First Quarter 2020 Consolidated Financial Results

Consolidated revenue of $184.5 million declined by 8% from Q1 2019.
- Service revenue of $150.8 million declined by 9% from Q1 2019, driven by a decline in CA-NA service revenue partially offset by growth in BA service revenue.
- Equipment revenue of $33.7 million declined 2% from Q1 2019, driven by a decline in BA equipment revenue offset by growth in both CA-NA and CA-ROW equipment revenue.
Net loss of $84.8 million increased from a net loss of $16.8 million in Q1 2019, due primarily to a $46.4 million charge related to impairment of long-lived assets and lower Adjusted EBITDA.
Adjusted EBITDA decreased to $25.7 million, down from $38.0 million in Q1 2019, primarily due to lower CA-NA segment profit partially offset by improved BA segment profit. Adjusted EBITDA includes a $6.8 million charge for expected credit losses due primarily to the impact of COVID-19, largely from one international airline partner.

“We started the year well ahead of plan, but Commercial Aviation demand fell sharply in March due to COVID-19 and has deteriorated further in Q2,” said Oakleigh Thorne, Gogo’s President and CEO. “There has also been a slowdown in new activations and an increase in account suspensions in our Business Aviation segment, which we expect will negatively impact BA revenue in Q2.”

“The Gogo team responded quickly to COVID-19 with actions to reduce costs, maintain our strong global franchise and ensure our long-term financial viability,” Thorne said. “I think we are well positioned to get through this crisis and am extremely proud of the efforts and sacrifices of our Gogo team in these difficult times.”

“To ensure our long-term liquidity, we are aggressively executing on our previously announced 16 levers to manage costs,” said Barry Rowan, Gogo’s Executive Vice President and CFO. “Our stronger than expected cash position exiting 2019 and through the first four months of 2020 has positioned us to manage through this difficult period and we are committed to continuing this heightened level of financial and operational discipline.”

First Quarter 2020 Business Segment Financial Results

Business Aviation (BA)

Total revenue increased to $70.9 million, up 1% from Q1 2019, driven by 8% service revenue growth offset by a decline in equipment revenue.
Service revenue increased to $57.7 million, up 8% from Q1 2019, driven by a 7% increase in ATG units online and a more than 2% increase in average monthly service revenue per ATG unit online.
Equipment revenue decreased to $13.2 million, down 24% from Q1 2019, due to lower ATG and satellite unit shipments.
Reportable segment profit increased to $35.9 million, up 6% from Q1 2019, with a reportable segment profit margin of nearly 51%. Q1 2020 reportable segment profit margin was an all-time quarterly record for BA, driven largely by higher service gross margin.

Commercial Aviation – North America (CA-NA)

Total revenue decreased to $80.1 million, down 17% from Q1 2019.
Service revenue decreased to $73.8 million, down 20% from Q1 2019, primarily due to the impact of COVID-19, the full impact of American Airlines switching to the airline-directed model, the deinstallation of Gogo equipment from certain American Airlines aircraft during 2018 and the first half of 2019, and the recognition of product development-related revenue from one of our airline partners in the first quarter of 2019.
Equipment revenue increased to $6.3 million, up 56% from Q1 2019, due primarily to more installations under the airline-directed model.
Reportable segment profit decreased to $15.9 million, down 48% from Q1 2019, due to lower service revenue partially offset by a combined 32% decline in engineering, design and development, sales and marketing and general and administrative expenses.
Aircraft online increased to 2,480 as of March 31, 2020 from 2,412 as of March 31, 2019, due to an increase in 2Ku and ATG aircraft partially offset by the previously planned removal of older mainline ATG aircraft from airlines’ operating fleets.
Take rates declined to 13.3% in Q1 2020, down from 13.9% in Q1 2019. Q1 2020 take rates were above the average take rate of 13.2% in 2019.
Net annualized ARPA decreased to $99,000, down from $126,000 in Q1 2019, due to the full impact of American Airlines transition to the airline-directed model, product development-related revenue in the first quarter of 2019 and the impact of COVID-19.

Commercial Aviation – Rest of World (CA-ROW)

Total revenue increased to $33.4 million, up 1% from Q1 2019.
Service revenue decreased to $19.2 million, down 3% from Q1 2019, due to lower ARPA caused by the negative effect of COVID-19 on global commercial air travel partially offset by an increase in aircraft online.
Equipment revenue increased to $14.2 million, up 8% from Q1 2019, due to an increase in spare parts sold under the airline-directed model, partially offset by fewer installations under the airline-directed model.
Reportable segment loss improved to $17.4 million, a 4% improvement from Q1 2019, due to declines in cost of equipment revenue, engineering, design and development expenses, and sales and marketing expenses partially offset by an increase in general and administrative expenses which was primarily due to the establishment of credit loss reserves stemming from the impact of COVID-19, the majority of which related to a single international airline partner. The financial condition of this airline partner continued to deteriorate to the point of entering administration subsequent to March 31, 2020, which we expect will result in additional credit losses in Q2 2020.
Aircraft online increased to 833 as of March 31, 2020, up from 641 as of March 31, 2019.
Take rates declined to 12.3% in Q1 2020, down from 13.6% in Q1 2019.
Net annualized ARPA of $97,000 in Q1 2020 declined from $136,000 in Q1 2019, due primarily to the growth in new aircraft fleets online, which typically initially generate lower net annualized ARPA, and the negative effect of COVID-19 on global commercial air travel.

(1)	See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below.
(2)	Please refer to the definition of “backlog” in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 13, 2020, under the heading “Contracts with Airline Partners” in Item 1.

COVID-19 Update
Given the continued significant impact that COVID-19 pandemic is having on global air travel, Gogo is not providing 2020 financial guidance in this release. Gogo is closely tracking the evolving impact of COVID-19 on global travel and its airline partners.

Conference Call
The Company will host its first quarter conference call on May 11, 2020 at 8:30 a.m. ET. A live webcast of the conference call, as well as a replay, will be available online on the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at http://ir.gogoair.com. Participants can access the call by dialing (844) 464-3940 (within the United States and Canada) or (765) 507-2646 (international dialers) and entering conference ID number 3031017.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
We report certain non-GAAP financial measurements, including Adjusted EBITDA, Free Cash Flow and Unlevered Free Cash Flow in the supplemental tables below. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA, Free Cash Flow and Unlevered Free Cash Flow for business planning purposes, including managing our business against internally projected results of operations and measuring our performance and liquidity. These supplemental performance measures also provide another basis for comparing period to period results by excluding potential differences caused by non-operational and unusual or non-recurring items. These supplemental performance measurements may vary from and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. Adjusted EBITDA, Free Cash Flow and Unlevered Free Cash Flow are not recognized measurements under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or GAAP; when analyzing our performance with Adjusted EBITDA or liquidity with Free Cash Flow or Unlevered Free Cash Flow, as applicable, investors should (i) evaluate each adjustment in our reconciliation to the corresponding GAAP measure, and the explanatory footnotes regarding those adjustments, (ii) use Adjusted EBITDA in addition to, and not as an alternative to, net loss attributable to common stock as a measure of operating results and (iii) use Free Cash Flow or Unlevered Free Cash Flow in addition to, and not as an alternative to, consolidated net cash provided by (used in) operating activities when evaluating our liquidity.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain disclosures in this press release and related comments by our management include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding our business outlook, industry, business strategy, plans, goals and expectations concerning our market position, international expansion, future technologies, future operations, margins, profitability, future efficiencies, capital expenditures, liquidity and capital resources and other financial and operating information. When used in this discussion, the words “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “budget,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “future” and the negative of these or similar terms and phrases are intended to identify forward-looking statements in this press release.

Forward-looking statements reflect our current expectations regarding future events, results or outcomes. These expectations may or may not be realized. Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give you no assurance these expectations will prove to have been correct. Some of these expectations may be based upon assumptions, data or judgments that prove to be incorrect. Actual events, results and outcomes may differ materially from our expectations due to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Although it is not possible to identify all of these risks and factors, they include, among others, the following: the duration for which and the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact demand for commercial and business aviation air travel globally, including as a result of governmental restrictions on travel and social gatherings and overall economic conditions; the failure to successfully implement our cost reduction plan and other measures taken to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on our business and financial condition, including efforts to renegotiate contractual terms with certain suppliers and customers; the loss of or failure to realize the anticipated benefits from agreements with our airline partners or customers on a timely basis or any failure to renew any existing agreements upon expiration or termination, including the results of our ongoing discussions with Delta Air Lines with respect to its transition to free service, which may involve a decision to pursue supplier diversification for its domestic mainline fleet; the failure to maintain airline and passenger satisfaction with our equipment or our service; any inability to timely and efficiently deploy and operate our 2Ku service or implement our technology roadmap, including developing and deploying upgrades and installations of our ATG-4 and 2Ku technologies, Gogo 5G, any technology to which our ATG or satellite networks evolve and other new technologies, for any reason, including technological issues and related remediation efforts, changes in regulations or regulatory delays affecting us, or our suppliers, some of whom are single source, or the failure by our airline partners or customers to roll out equipment upgrades or new services or adopt new technologies in order to support increased demand and network capacity constraints, including as a result of airline partners shifting to a free-to-passenger business model; the timing of deinstallation of our equipment from aircraft, including deinstallations resulting from aircraft retirements and other deinstallations permitted by certain airline contract provisions; the loss of relationships with original equipment manufacturers or dealers; our ability to make our equipment factory line-fit available on a timely basis; our ability to develop or purchase ATG and satellite network capacity sufficient to accommodate current and expected growth in passenger demand in North America and internationally as we expand; our reliance on third-party suppliers, some of whom are single source, for satellite capacity and other services and the equipment we use to provide services to commercial airlines and their passengers and business aviation customers; unfavorable economic conditions in the airline industry and/or the economy as a whole; governmental action restricting trade with China or other foreign countries; our ability to expand our international or domestic operations, including our ability to grow our business with current and potential future airline partners and customers and the effect of shifts in business models, including a shift toward airlines providing free service to passengers; an inability to compete effectively with other current or future providers of in-flight connectivity services and other products and services that we offer, including on the basis of price, service performance and line-fit availability; our ability to successfully develop and monetize new products and services, including those that were recently released, are currently being offered on a limited or trial basis, or are in various stages of development; our ability to certify and install our equipment and deliver our products and services, including newly developed products and services, on schedules consistent with our contractual commitments to customers; the failure of our equipment or material defects or errors in our software resulting in recalls or substantial warranty claims; a revocation of, or reduction in, our right to use licensed spectrum, the availability of other air-to-ground spectrum to a competitor or the repurposing by a competitor of other spectrum for air-to-ground use; our use of open source software and licenses; the effects of service interruptions or delays, technology failures and equipment failures or malfunctions arising from defects or errors in our software or defects in or damage to our equipment; the limited operating history of our CA-ROW segment; contract changes and implementation issues resulting from decisions by airlines to transition from the turnkey model to the airline-directed model or vice versa; increases in our projected capital expenditures due to, among other things, unexpected costs incurred in connection with the roll-out of our technology roadmap or our international expansion; compliance with U.S. and foreign government regulations and standards, including those related to regulation of the Internet, including e-commerce or online video distribution changes, and the installation and operation of satellite equipment and our ability to obtain and maintain all necessary regulatory approvals to install and operate our equipment in the United States and foreign jurisdictions; our, or our technology suppliers’, inability to effectively innovate; obsolescence of, and our ability to access parts, products, equipment and support services compatible with, our existing products and technologies; costs associated with defending existing or future intellectual property infringement, securities and derivative litigation and other litigation or claims and any negative outcome or effect of pending or future litigation; our ability to protect our intellectual property; breaches of the security of our information technology network, resulting in unauthorized access to our customers’ credit card information or other personal information; our substantial indebtedness, including additional borrowings pursuant to the CARES Act, if any, limitations and restrictions in the agreements governing our current and future indebtedness and our ability to service our indebtedness; our ability to obtain additional financing for operations, or financing intended to refinance our existing indebtedness on acceptable terms or at all, including any loans pursuant to the CARES Act; fluctuations in our operating results; our ability to attract and retain customers and to capitalize on revenue from our platform; the demand for and market acceptance of our products and services; changes or developments in the regulations that apply to us, our business and our industry, including changes or developments affecting the ability of passengers or airlines to use our in-flight connectivity services; a future act or threat of terrorism, cybersecurity attack or other events that could result in adverse regulatory changes or developments, or otherwise adversely affect our business and industry; our ability to attract and retain qualified employees, including key personnel, including in light of recent furloughs and salary reductions; the effectiveness of our marketing and advertising and our ability to maintain and enhance our brands; our ability to manage our growth in a cost-effective manner and integrate and manage acquisitions; compliance with anti-corruption laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the (U.K.) Bribery Act 2010; restrictions on the ability of U.S. companies to do business in foreign countries, including, among others, restrictions imposed by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control; difficulties in collecting accounts receivable; our ability to successfully implement improvements to systems, operations, strategy and procedures needed to support our growth and to effectively evaluate and pursue strategic opportunities; and other events beyond our control that may result in unexpected adverse operating results.

Additional information concerning these and other factors can be found under the caption “Risk Factors” in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2019 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 13, 2020 and in our 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 as filed with the SEC on May 11, 2020.

Any one of these factors or a combination of these factors could materially affect our financial condition or future results of operations and could influence whether any forward-looking statements contained in this report ultimately prove to be accurate. Our forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and you should not place undue reliance on them. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, May 12, 2020 at 2:15 pm
Filed under News Releases · Tagged with 2020, COVID-19, financial, Gogo, Results

Gogo Closes $30 Million Revolving Credit Facility to Strengthen its Balance Sheet and Liquidity Position

The Company reaffirms its guidance for a Free Cash Flow improvement of at least $100 million in 2019 and continues to expect meaningfully positive annual Free Cash Flow in 2021

Chicago, Il | August 27, 2019– Gogo (NASDAQ: GOGO), the leading global provider of broadband connectivity products and services for aviation, today announced the completion of its previously disclosed $30 million asset-based revolving credit facility.

“The closing of our $30 million revolving credit facility provides additional buffer capital and represents another important step in the strengthening of our balance sheet and liquidity without equity dilution,” said Oakleigh Thorne, President and CEO of Gogo. “We continue to expect Free Cash Flow improvement of at least $100 million in 2019 versus 2018 and meaningfully positive annual Free Cash Flow in 2021.”

Following the closing of this credit facility, the Company expects to maintain a minimum total liquidity balance of approximately $100 million. The Company does not anticipate requiring additional capital based on its current plans and projected cash flow trajectory, except as needed to refinance its debt obligations maturing in 2022 and 2024.

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, August 27, 2019 at 3:12 pm
Filed under News Releases · Tagged with 2019, capital, equity, finances, Gogo

Gogo Announces Second Quarter 2019 Financial Results

Increases 2019 Adjusted EBITDA Guidance to $105 Million to $115 Million

Chicago, IL | August 8, 2019–Gogo (NASDAQ: GOGO), the leading global provider of broadband connectivity products and services for aviation, today announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2019.

Highlights for Q2 2019

Consolidated service revenue of more than $173 million, up more than 9% from Q2 2018
Net loss of $84 million, which includes a $58 million loss on extinguishment of debt due to the $925 million debt refinancing
Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ of $37.8 million, up from $18.9 million in Q2 2018
Combined segment profit from CA-NA and CA-ROW of $6.9 million, up from a combined segment loss of $17 million in Q2 2018
Total Aircraft Online for Commercial Aviation of 3,134, up 81 from Q1 2019
Cash Flow from Operating Activities of $11.7 million; Unlevered Free Cash Flow⁽¹⁾of positive $36 million, up $73 million from negative $37 million in Q2 2018
Renewal of our 2Ku agreement with American Airlines and our commercial relationship with T-Mobile
In May, Delta Airlines conducted a two-week trial of free Wi-Fi on 55 domestic 2Ku daily flights as part of Delta’s evaluation of offering free Wi-Fi to passengers

Second Quarter 2019 Consolidated Results

Gogo completed a $925 million debt refinancing to lower borrowing costs and extend debt maturities, including the repurchase of $159 million of the Company’s 3.75% convertible senior notes due 2020.
Consolidated revenue totaled $213.7 million.
Service revenue grew in all three segments to a consolidated $173.7 million, an increase of more than 9% from Q2 2018.
After excluding the $58 million loss on extinguishment of debt, net loss of $84 million would have been $26 million, an improvement of 30% year-over-year.
Adjusted EBITDA was $37.8 million as compared with $18.9 millionin Q2 2018, driven primarily by strong service revenue growth and lower operating expenses.
Free Cash Flow⁽¹⁾in Q2 2019 was negative $3 million, an improvement from negative $35 million in the prior-year period. In the first half of 2019, Free Cash Flow was negative $37 million, an improvement from negative $144 million in the prior-year period.
Cash and cash equivalents were $182 million as of June 30, 2019 as compared with $189 million as of March 31, 2019, and reflects $40 million of interest payments made in Q2 2019.
2Ku aircraft online reached 1,216 as of June 30, 2019, an increase of 109 aircraft in Q2 2019. Gogo had a 2Ku backlog of approximately 900 aircraft as of June 30, 2019.⁽²⁾

“Gogo delivered a solid second quarter, driven by strong underlying service revenue, operational execution and successful implementation of cost controls, including lower than expected satcom expense,” said Oakleigh Thorne, Gogo’s President and CEO. “Following our excellent second quarter financial performance, we are again raising our 2019 Adjusted EBITDA guidance.”

“We continue to strengthen our balance sheet and expect to improve Free Cash Flow by at least $100 million in 2019,” said Barry Rowan, Gogo’s Executive Vice President and CFO. “Looking ahead, we are on track to drive Gogo to meaningfully positive annual Free Cash Flow in 2021.”

Second Quarter 2019 Business Segment Results

Commercial Aviation – North America (CA-NA)

Service revenue increased to $96.4 million, up 1% from the prior-year period, due to increased take rates offset by the 555 de-installations from American Airlines aircraft that began in early 2018 and were completed in Q2 2019.
Aircraft online increased sequentially to 2,443 from 2,412 as of March 31, 2019.
Equipment revenue decreased to $9.3 million as compared with $23.9 million for the prior-year period, due to lower 2Ku installations and a shift in mix from airline-directed to turnkey installations.
Total revenue decreased to $105.7 million, down 12% from Q2 2018, due to the decline in equipment revenue.
Segment profit increased to $24.2 million from $7 million in Q2 2018, due primarily to stronger service revenue and lower operations costs.
Take rates increased to 12.7% in Q2 2019, up from 11.2% in the prior-year period, an improvement of more than 13%.

Commercial Aviation – Rest of World (CA-ROW)

Service revenue increased to $22.6 million, up 49% from Q2 2018, driven by an increase in aircraft online.
Aircraft online increased to 691, up more than 50% from 459 as of June 30, 2018.
Equipment revenue decreased to $14.1 million, down from $18.5 million in Q2 2018. While there were more total Q2 2019 installations in CA-ROW than in Q2 2018, fewer installations under the airline-directed model resulted in lower equipment revenue.
Total revenue increased to $36.7 million, up 9% from Q2 2018.
Segment loss of $17.3 million improved 29% compared with Q2 2018, as we benefited from continuing improvement in satcom utilization.
Take rates increased to 13.4% in Q2 2019, up from 13.2% in the prior-year period.
Net annualized ARPA of $135,000 in Q2 2019 was essentially flat from Q1 2019 and declined 8% from $147,000 in Q2 2018, reflecting dilution from the significant growth in new aircraft fleets online, which typically generate initially lower net annualized ARPA.

Business Aviation (BA)

Service revenue increased to $54.8 million, up 14% from Q2 2018, driven primarily by an 11% increase in ATG units online to 5,462.
Equipment revenue decreased to $16.5 million, down 37% from Q2 2018, largely attributable to timing delays in the aftermarket channel due to the FAA-mandated December 31, 2019 deadline for installation of ADS-B safety systems.
Total revenue decreased to $71.2 million, down 4% from Q2 2018, due to lower ATG equipment shipments.
Segment profit decreased to $31.3 million, down 15% from Q2 2018, due to the decline in equipment shipments, increased network costs resulting from higher bandwidth usage, and investments in the development of Gogo 5G and other new products and services.

Business Outlook

The Company reaffirms or updates its 2019 financial guidance as follows:

Total consolidated revenue of $800 million to $850 million (no change from prior guidance).
- CA-NA revenue at the high-end of the previously-guided range of $355 million to $380 million with approximately 5% from equipment revenue (no change in guidance for the percentage of revenue from equipment).
- CA-ROW revenue at the high end of the previously-guided range of $135 million to $150 million with approximately 40% from equipment revenue (versus prior guidance of approximately 30%).
- BA revenue of $290 to $300 million versus prior guidance of $310 to $320 million.
Adjusted EBITDA of $105 million to $115 million, representing 55% year-over-year growth at the mid-point of guidance (increased from prior guidance of $90 million to $105 million).
Free Cash Flow improvement of at least $100 million versus 2018 (no change from prior guidance).
Increase of 400 to 475 in 2Ku aircraft online (no change from prior guidance).

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, August 13, 2019 at 3:44 pm
Filed under News Releases · Tagged with 2019, financial, Gogo, Results

News from Inmarsat at AIX, Gogo and Airbus Celebrates Their 50th Anniversary

During AIX Inmarsat celebrated the 1000th installation of their inflight broadband services (GX, JetConneX, and EAN) and discussed how they envisioned the strategy to create a global network to provide Ka-band coverage 8 years ago and how far they have come since its conception. Presently, four satellites are up, and they will have the 5th up later this year. The 5th satellite on its own will have more capacity than the previous 4 combined and it will be focused on Europe and the Middle East, which are high capacity corridors. The next generation of GX satellites are a quantum leap to place their capacity in the right place at the right time. As a result, they will have a dedicated beam to track with no hand-off and provide redundancy and different visibility from other orbits.

On the network side, Inmarsat said that it will be hard for their competition to stay close as these new birds will have ground station redundancy; whereas, “some of our competitors face the situation where the loss of a single satellite equals the loss of everything. This is not the case for Inmarsat. From a security standpoint, this is important as our largest customers are governments. We have set a very high bar when you take into consideration all the aforementioned points”.

Since Aircraft Interiors Inmarsat announced that Airbus Defense & Space will design, build and manufacture the next generation of geostationary Ka-band for their Global Xpress network. GX7, GX8 and GX9 are each set to deliver twice the total capacity of the current GX network and will enable the delivery of multiple gigabits per second to passengers’ electronic devices. These new satellites will be the first to make use of the OneSat product line from Airbus. All three satellites are scheduled to be in orbit by the end of 2023, with GX7 and GX8 due to be launched in the first half of ‘23, and GX9 by the same year’s end. Inmarsat said that GX7, GX8 and GX9 satellites will be capable of creating smaller, more precise, dynamically formed beams than today’s GX satellites, which will result in their ability to deliver capacity to high-demand areas when needed. Inmarsat will use software to relocate capacity real-time and the new satellites will feature on board processing capabilities and active antennas.

Lastly, there is now a formal offer from a Canadian consortium for the acquisition of Inmarsat. We were told that they have been in formal discussions since January of this year. The Inmarsat Board has declared in favor of accepting the offer. The offer was to be presented to the shareholders for a vote on in May of this year and they anticipate closure in 4Q19. It has to pass all the antitrust laws and various government security approvals. All of the latest information on this is available on the Inmarsat website.

GOGO

Gogo, a global provider of broadband connectivity products and services for aviation, announced its plans to build a 5G network for aviation. The new air-to-ground (ATG) network will be designed for use on business aviation aircraft, commercial regional jets and smaller mainline jets operating within the contiguous United States and Canada. Gogo expects the network to be available for business and commercial aviation in 2021. “We expect to launch Gogo 5G at the same time as the terrestrial telecommunications companies are deploying the same generation of technology on the ground – a first in the inflight connectivity industry,” said Oakleigh Thorne, CEO of Gogo. “Gogo 5G is the next step in our technology evolution and is expected to deliver an unparalleled user experience, pairing high performance with low latency and network-wide redundancy. “Gogo will build the 5G network on its existing infrastructure of more than 250 towers and will use unlicensed spectrum in the 2.4GHz range, along with a proprietary modem and advanced beamforming technology. Gogo’s 5G infrastructure will support all spectrum types (licensed, shared, unlicensed) and bands (mid, high, low), and will allow Gogo to take advantage of new advances in technology as they are developed. Similar to how wireless carriers provide redundancy across their networks, Gogo will continue to employ its 3G and 4G networks throughout the continental U.S. and in Canada that will provide backup to the 5G network when needed.When compared to satellite technologies, ground-based network technologies in general deliver certain operational advantages – specifically lower cost of operation and lower latency. Gogo is committed to provide easy upgrade paths to 5G for existing Gogo air-to-ground customers.

AIRBUS

Airbus launched a global campaign celebrating the company’s 50 year anniversary, showcasing key moments of pioneering progress throughout the past five decades.

The campaign begins by marking 50 years since the French Minister of Transport, Jean Chamant and the German Minister of Economic Affairs, Karl Schiller, signed an agreement at the 1969 Paris Air Show for the joint-development of the A300 aircraft, a first European twin-aisle twin-engine jet for medium-haul air travel.

Guillaume Faury, CEO of Airbus said: “Airbus’ story is one of ambition and progress, and has been a showcase of European integration. Over five decades, we have brought together civil and defence aviation businesses from throughout the continent. For 50 years, we have pioneered many firsts through our passion and innovation, transforming the industry and helping to move society forward. Airbus is a story of incredible men and women, a story of great achievements in the past and, above all, in the future.”
Running from 29 May to 17 July, the campaign will bring stories to life through new, engaging content published across Airbus channels. With a new story released each day, for 50 consecutive days, the campaign will highlight the people and ground-breaking innovations that have driven the company. The campaign shines a light on many different aspects of the Airbus business, including commercial aircraft, helicopters, space and defense, in addition to programs and initiatives. The 50th anniversary campaign also looks to the future, exploring how Airbus continues to shape the industry with pioneering innovations that address some of society’s most critical issues, whether that be pioneering electric flight to reduce emissions, digitising aerospace design, or developing new urban air mobility options.

Airbus industrial sites will also celebrate this milestone, starting in Toulouse with a fly over from the full Airbus Commercial Aircraft family accompanied by the Patrouille de France at 12:00pm today.

Also from Airbus:
The change of name of CSALP to Airbus Canada Limited Partnership, which was announced in March 2019, will come into effect on June 1, 2019. The new name reflects the majority interest of Airbus in the partnership since July 1, 2018. The partnership is adopting the Airbus logo as its single visual identity. Over the course of the coming weeks, the new name will be applied to the limited partnership’s documentation, materials and branded items. The Airbus and Bombardier logos will continue to be displayed side-by-side on the building exteriors in Mirabel, reflecting production activities on the site for both the Airbus A220 and Bombardier CRJ aircraft families.

About the limited partnership
Headquartered in Mirabel, Québec, the limited partnership is responsible for the development and manufacturing of the Airbus A220 family of single-aisle passenger aircraft. Majority owned by Airbus SE, partners include Bombardier Inc. and Investissement Québec (acting as mandatory for the government of Québec). The limited partnership employs approximately 2,200 at its headquarters and manufacturing facilities in Mirabel. The second A220 manufacturing facility in Mobile, Alabama will start production in the third quarter of 2019.

OTHER NEWS

We were always curious about JPEG encoding, however, maybe not so much anymore! Unraveling The JPEG
Boy, this might work at airports but, perhaps, with a little deeper voice? SoftBank’s Pepper robot lands at Brickell HSBC branch | Miami Herald
If you see the future of ground automatic driving at airports on the field, you had better see what Rhode & Schwarz has done entitled ‘5G NR the new communication technology for C-V2X’, and yes, it is 129 pages long and very technical but it shows that these folks understand the challenges with 2D automatic connectivity of drive autonomous driving (on the car roads – you make the airport version).
Can a new Mini car with 181 horsepower and 199 pound-feet of torque tow a 150 ton Boeing B777F freighter airplane – you decide: #MINI hashtag on Twitter
“Emissions are heading in the wrong direction.” Axios Science – May 30, 2019 – Axios
Whom has the gold? The Countries With The Largest Stockpiles Of Gold, Visualized – Digg
A Simple Primer On Quantum Computing, A Technology That Could Upend Everything – Digg
Paul Allens Stratolaunch is shutting down – Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch is reportedly shutting down
Five good questions to dump the AI hype – Five questions you can use to cut through AI hype – MIT Technology Review
This may be stupid but the folks at Recomendo (A weekly newsletter that gives you 6 brief personal recommendations of cool stuff.) just showed a website that mechanical technology folks must love – 507 Mechanical Movements

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, June 4, 2019 at 4:47 pm
Filed under Hot Topics · Tagged with Airbus, Airlines, Boeing, Connectivity, Gogo, Ka Band

Gogo and ForeFlight Enable GPS and Other Features on ForeFlight Mobile Application

EBACE & Geneva, Switzerland | May 21, 2019–Gogo Business Aviation (NASDAQ: GOGO) and ForeFlight have partnered to bring new GPS location information and altitude to the ForeFlight Mobile iOS-based application for business aviation.

Using an onboard Gogo AVANCE system or an ATG 4000/5000, ForeFlight Mobile can now deliver flight location information throughout the cockpit and cabin using Wi-Fi – it’s information typically provided via a separate GPS system that requires additional onboard hardware and antennas.

“Our goal with this initiative was to simplify the overall on-aircraft systems configuration, and reduce the number of onboard systems that passengers and crew are required to interact with and use on a regular basis,” said Lisa Peterson, senior vice president of marketing and digital (IoT) for Gogo Business Aviation. “It not only makes operating the aircraft more efficient, it saves a significant amount of time and money for the owner or operator because the aircraft doesn’t have to be taken out of service for installation of new antennas or equipment which GPS systems require.”

Through this new service, the ForeFlight iOS mobile application on a passenger device can use flight location information – specifically longitude, latitude and altitude – sent to the onboard Gogo system from the aircraft’s FMS that is then made available via the cabin Wi-Fi network.”

“With this new capability, ForeFlight customers can get position data directly from the Gogo system which provides additional insight for passengers and crew about the aircraft’s location,” said Tyson Weihs, CEO of ForeFlight.

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, May 21, 2019 at 6:04 pm
Filed under News Releases · Tagged with EBACE, ForeFlight, Gogo

Gogo and Brazilian Mobile Provider TIM Partner to Offer Discounted Wi-Fi on GOL

Reaffirms Gogo’s Third-Party Revenue Strategy with Airline Partners

Chicago | September 4, 2018– Gogo Inc. (NASDAQ: GOGO), the leading global provider of broadband connectivity products and services for aviation, announced today a partnership with Brazilian mobile provider TIM, to offer discounted Wi-Fi to their PRA MIM Elite Black customers on Brazilian carrier, GOL Linhas Aéreas.

TIM PRA MIM, TIM’s loyalty program, gives elite members of their post-paid mobile plan benefits from partner companies. This benefit will be live starting September 3 and runs through Oct. 3and offers TIM’s most loyal customers a 30 percent discount on Wi-Fi passes on the airline. GOL will offer this promotion on all Gogo 2Ku equipped aircraft.

“Airline passengers comprise a captive audience for global brands. They are highly sought after by third-party brand partners like TIM, who want to engage with them,” says John Wade, Gogo’s president of commercial aviation. “Driving passenger satisfaction through free or discounted Gogo inflight connectivity is a win/win for our airline partners and for Gogo.”

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, September 4, 2018 at 2:17 pm
Filed under News Releases · Tagged with Airlines, Brazil, Connectivity, Gogo, TIM, Wi-Fi

Intelsat Joins the Seamless Air Alliance

Luxembourg | July 17, 2018–Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I), operator of the world’s first Globalized Network and leader in integrated satellite solutions, announced that it has joined the Seamless Air Alliance, a consortium dedicated to the development and promotion of standards to facilitate a better, more seamless, inflight connectivity experience for passengers.

The standards would eliminate the immense costs and hurdles commonly associated with acquisition, installation, and operation of data access infrastructure by streamlining system integration and certification, providing open specifications for interoperability. More importantly, it would empower mobile operators to extend their services into airline cabins and airline passengers to board any flight on any airline anywhere in the world and use their own devices to automatically connect to the Internet, with no complicated login process and no paywall to scramble over.

“When boarding a plane for business or leisure, passengers want fast and easy access to high-quality, reliable broadband connectivity,” said Mark Rasmussen, Vice President and General Manager, Mobility. “That is why Intelsat continues to build a strong ecosystem of partners that will leverage 3GPP standards to create a seamless, global broadband infrastructure that offers airlines and passengers a consistent, uninterrupted experience. By joining the Seamless Air Alliance, Intelsat continues to take a leading role in shaping a global network that leverages different technologies and constellations. As the exclusive channel partner for OneWeb’s mobility applications, Intelsat looks forward to collaborating with OneWeb, existing partners such as Gogo and other network operators, to develop the standards needed to provide a seamless operational and passenger experience in the skies.”

With satellite serving as the primary means to connecting aircraft, Intelsat will contribute in the integration of geostationary and low-Earth orbit satellite solutions into the hybrid network and help define standards, test equipment and develop service packages focused on the aeronautical market.

“We are very pleased to have Intelsat join and contribute its breadth of experience to creating a better passenger experience for airline customers everywhere,” said Jack Mandala, Chief Executive Officer of the Seamless Air Alliance. “Over the next 90 days our Working Groups will develop and draft deliverables that will shape the future of in-flight connectivity, and having Intelsat participate in that process is incredibly valuable.”

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, July 24, 2018 at 1:57 pm
Filed under News Releases · Tagged with Air, Alliance, Broadband, Gogo, Intelsat, OneWeb, Seamless

KID-Systeme, Rockwell Collins, Airbus and a Lot More!

KID-Systeme

Let’s face it, one of the most important amenities on an aircraft is the USB power. In fact, the longer the flight the more important USB power is. Why? Because personal device battery life is a function of time. As you may remember from an earlier issue of IFExpress, we touched on the Mirus Aircraft Seating integration project for AirAsia’s new Hawk slimline economy seating for their A320 fleet that includes the IFE peripheral experts, IFPL, who are supplying the USB interface port for USB consumer technologies. What you may not know is that KID-Systeme is the single source supplier for the USB power source via their SKYpower system. This initial A320 retrofit program, which was announced in 2016, is now up and flying and has been followed-up by a line fit order for the airline’s new Airbus A320/A321neo aircraft. During AIX we had the opportunity to talk with KID about the project and they indicated that the high-power USB outlet in conjunction with the In-Seat Power Supply unit minimize weight while limiting the intrusion into the passenger space, facilitating the passenger experience in Wi-Fi equipped cabins. “… we celebrate a striking success in Asia together with Mirus and we are pleased to announce our new relationship with Mirus and IFPL, offering an innovative, low cost, low weight & high-power USB solution. The system can be installed on Airbus line-fit aircraft as well as on all types of retrofit programs”, says Jens Markworth, VP Sales KID-Systeme GmbH. SKYpower is designed with high power efficiency and low standby power and is intended to guarantee passengers with sufficient power to use their electronic devices, whether they be laptops, smartphones, and/or tablets en route. We foresee more teaming efforts like this one in the industry’s future.

Rockwell Collins

Five Rockwell Collins engineers have been named to the fifth annual class of Rockwell Collins Fellows at a special ceremony yesterday with company leadership and members of the first four classes of Fellows.

Implemented in 2014, the Rockwell Collins Fellows program distinguishes exemplary engineers whose leadership, innovations and technical expertise — along with their dedication to mentoring others — advances Rockwell Collins and their respective fields.

The Class of 2018 Fellows are:

Joseph Graf, principal systems engineer in Airborne and Ground Communications Products for Government Systems in Cedar Rapids
Patrick Morrissey, senior security engineering manager for Commercial Systems Cyber Security Engineering in Cedar Rapids
Warren Prasuhn, principal systems engineer in Safety Programs and Process for Commercial Systems in Cedar Rapids
Karl Shepherd, principal systems engineer in Airborne Solutions for Government Systems in Cedar Rapids
Joel Wichgers, principal systems engineer in Precision Positioning and Guidance for Engineering & Information Technology in Cedar Rapids

“Our Fellows are helping our company achieve industry-changing moments, historic wins and barrier-breaking technology that’s yet to come,” said Nan Mattai, senior vice president of Engineering & Information Technology. “I’m extremely proud of their accomplishments.”

Gogo

Gogo Business Aviation says its AVANCE L5 connectivity system was installed on the 200th aircraft; it expects 500 by the end of 2018.

Airbus:

The A320 Family Production Line

Airbus has inaugurated the fourth Hamburg A320 Family production line. Making use of digital technologies and a more flexible industrial set-up, the innovative state-of-the-art line is a key enabler for ramping up the single aisle program to 60 aircraft per month by mid-2019.

Frank Horch, Hamburg’s Senator of Economy, Transport and Innovation and Thomas Jarzombek, Federal Government Coordinator of German Aerospace Policy, witnessed the milestone together with Guillaume Faury, President Airbus Commercial Aircraft, and 500 distinguished guests at a special ceremony in Hamburg. “The inauguration of our latest, most modern A320 production line opens a new chapter in efficient, digital aircraft manufacturing,” said Guillaume Faury. “With these new technologies we are building our aircraft more efficiently, a key enabler for higher production rates. I would like to thank the teams, who pushed this newest Airbus production standard from concept to reality.”

With more than 14,000 A320ceo and A320neo Family aircraft ordered and over 8,100 delivered, the A320 is the world’s most successful single-aisle aircraft family. Incorporating the latest state-of-the-art technologies including new generation engines and Sharklets, the A320neo Family provides 15 percent fuel savings at delivery and 20 percent by 2020. To date the A320neo Family has captured nearly a 60 percent market share with more than 6,000 orders from 100 customers.

The A320 Family aircraft are manufactured globally, at Airbus sites in Europe, China and the US. In addition to the new production line, Airbus also inaugurated a larger and modernized Hamburg A320 Family delivery center with more customer areas, more efficient delivery processes and increased hospitality services.

Airbus & the Côte d’Ivoire

Airbus and the government of Côte d’Ivoire signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a framework of collaboration to support the development of the country’s aerospace industry which has been identified as strategic for its economic development. Under the terms of the MoU, Airbus and the government of Côte d’Ivoire will explore channels of cooperation in developing the aerospace sector in Côte d’Ivoire in various areas.

“We are confident that this partnership with Airbus will contribute to Côte d’Ivoire’s economic growth as well as support us build a stronger framework for industrial development, creation of jobs and capacity building for our country,” said his Excellency Daniel Kablan Duncan, Vice President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. We are committed to deliver on our vision and make Côte d’Ivoire a hub for aerospace technology in Africa,” he added.

“Collaboration between the public and private sector is essential to facilitate economic and industrial growth. Through this MoU we will work closely with Côte d’Ivoire’s government, share expertise, discuss opportunities and support efforts in building a robust and sustainable aerospace sector. At Airbus, we are committed to supporting the sustainable socioeconomic development of Africa through partnerships such as this. ” said Guillaume Faury, President Airbus Commercial Aircraft.

Airbus A330neo

The A330neo, Airbus’ newest widebody aircraft, has embarked on a worldwide tour to demonstrate its readiness for airline operations. As final step in the aircraft certification phase these function & reliability tests, also known as route proving will include ETOPS missions, landing at diversion airports and testing airport handling services. After a fly past over Airbus’ European sites, the A330neo will head for 15 major airports worldwide over five continents, aiming at achieving 150 Flight Test Hours in three trips. The route proving tests are performed with the first A330-900 production aircraft, fully equipped with an Airspace by Airbus cabin and flying in launch operator’s Tap Air Portugal colors. The aircraft first flew on 15th May 2018 launching flight-tests to check cabin systems such as air conditioning. The route proving tests form part of the last trials required for aircraft Type Certification scheduled for summer 2018.

Launched in July 2014, the A330neo family is the new generation A330, comprising two versions: the A330-800 and A330-900 sharing 99% commonality. It builds on the proven economics, versatility and reliability of the A330 family, while reducing fuel consumption by about 25 percent per seat versus previous generation competitors and increasing range by up to 1,500nm compared to the majority of A330s in operation. The A330neo is powered by Rolls-Royce’s latest-generation Trent 7000 engines and features a new wing with increased span and new A350 XWB inspired Sharklets. The cabin provides the comfort of the new “Airspace” amenities.

Airbus & Cathay Pacific Airways

Cathay Pacific Airways has become the second airline to operate the A350-1000, the world’s newest long range widebody airliner. The airline took delivery of the aircraft at a special event in Toulouse, France. The aircraft is the first of 20 A350-1000s ordered by Cathay Pacific and will join the carrier’s growing fleet of A350 XWB aircraft, which already includes 22 A350-900s. Both aircraft are complementary and provide for maximum commonality with unmatched operating efficiencies, while offering passengers the highest levels of comfort in all classes. Travelers will benefit from absolute well-being in the cabin, with more personal space, optimized cabin altitude, more fresh air, controlled temperature & humidity, integrated connectivity and the latest generation of in-flight entertainment system. With its true long-range capability, the A350-1000 will form an important part of Cathay Pacific long-haul operations. The aircraft will be deployed on the airline’s new non-stop route from Hong-Kong to Washington DC, representing the longest flight – approximately 17 hours – performed by any airline out of Hong Kong.

SITA

Global air transport IT provider SITA has announced that its technology, BagJourney, is managing baggage for an increasing number of the world’s airlines. In the first six months of this year alone, more than 20 airlines have chosen the solution. SITA BagJourney is one of the key technologies helping the industry meet the IATA Resolution 753 requirement to track every stage of every bag’s journey.To meet the conditions of Resolution 753, airlines must track every item of baggage at four key points in the journey: at check-in, loading onto the aircraft, transfer and arrival. The biggest challenge airlines and airports face doing this is scanning at the point of transfer and on arrival. Typically, these were not areas of the airport where scanning was done so they require attention and new infrastructure. With a growing number of customers, SITA’s baggage management technology is firmly established as the solution of choice for the air transport industry. Together, SITA’s BagJourney customers handle hundreds of millions of bags each year and these airlines are enjoying as much as 30% reduction in the rates of mishandling. SITA has been the recognized leader in bag tracking and tracing for more than 25 years with its systems in every major airport in the world. SITA BagJourney is the world’s first community-based baggage tracking system that provides an end-to-end view of the baggage journey using data from multiple sources. Today, SITA is leading the baggage community by providing technology and professional services to help airlines track baggage and unlock the value of the vast amounts of tracking data that will be produced.

Inmarsat

The London School of Economics, in association with Inmarsat Aviation, has revealed the findings of Sky High Economics: Evaluating the Economic Benefits of Connected Airline Operations. The report finds that consolidating the advantages of connected aircraft could deliver substantial economic benefits for the global airline industry, as well as significant environmental benefits, including a reduction in the industry’s annual global fuel use and a net reduction in CO2 output.

Highlights of the findings include:

Major savings for airlines

The potential for multiple savings, efficiencies and safety opportunities could equate to a 0.75% – 1.00% reduction in the IATA consolidated US$764 billion annual global airline costs of operation.
Savings could reach $15billion per year and a reduction of 21.3 million tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2035

Reduced delays for passengers

Weather is responsible for 70% of all flight delays and is a contributing factor in 23% of aviation accidents. Connectivity, which allows airlines to improve navigation and avoid adverse weather conditions could deliver annual cost savings of $1.3billion
Connectivity could deliver a 66% reduction in crew-related scheduling delays – adding up to $2.4 billion in annual savings

Revolutionizing air traffic management

IP-enabled real time data exchange between aircraft and air traffic control services is allowing airspace to accommodate increasing passenger numbers. By 2035, this could create a $3billion annual saving for the airline industry – while helping to safely meet growth expectations

This is the second chapter in the Sky High Economics series, a first of its kind research report evaluating the economic value of connected aircraft from now until 2035. The first chapter, on the economic value generated by passenger connectivity, was released in September 2017.

Hainan Airlines

On 15th June, the all-new DreamWorks Theater of Universal Studio Hollywood was opened in L.A.. Hainan Airlines has organized an inflight activity themed ‘DreamWorks Theater’ with Universal Studio on their HU469 from Chengdu to Los Angeles and they have also launched four KungFu Panda liveried aircraft. The DreamWorks Theater flight served by the third KungFu Panda liveried aircraft, in which all the flight attendants wore the new uniform to introduce the opening of DreamWorks Theater, as well as, sharing with dedicated Po fans Universal Studio brochures, and a Universal Studio ticket worth $129 to every passenger! In addition, the entertainment project was revealed on this flight which was the new film Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest, which recounts Po’s perilous mission to deliver the rare and precious Liquid of Limitless Power to the Palace. With Po’s new dream on the Kung Fu Panda liveried aircraft, Hainan Airlines graciously invites passengers to participate in the opening of the DreamWorks Theater. We note that this year remarks the 10th anniversary of Hainan Airlines entering North American market. Hainan Airlines has enjoyed rapid development on North American route network over the past decade. Since the launching of Chengdu-Los Angeles route on March 15, 2017, Hainan Airlines has now opened twelve routes from domestic key first- and second-tier cities to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, San Jose, Chicago, Boston and New York.

Lufthansa

Watch this one: Lufthansa has had preliminary take-over talks with Norwegian!

Other News

If you want to check out the world according to Gogo, why not get their free “In-flight Connectivity 101 ebook. It’s free to download here In-flight Connectivity 101 eBook – Avionics and it is full of data – really good info!
Confused about Blockchain? Henry Canaday covered it nicely here: How Might Blockchain Be Used To Manage Aircraft Assets? and Expect High Adoption Of Blockchain In Next Few Years
Want to see how a Boeing B-52 bomber is re-assembled? Reassembling the B-52 Midnight Express
Here is a great use of a parachute! Plane loses wing but saved by BRS parachute GIF | Create, Discover and Share on Gfycat

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, June 19, 2018 at 5:29 pm
Filed under Hot Topics · Tagged with Airbus, Gogo, IFPL, Inmarsat, Rockwell Collins, SITA, SKYpower, USB

The Current Opportunities and Obstacles of Virtual Reality In-Flight Entertainment

SkyLights today released a report for airline customer experience managers addressing the current opportunities and obstacles Virtual Reality In-Flight Entertainment (VR IFE) presents to airlines.

Paris, France | June 6, 2018–SkyLights today released a special report for airline customer experience managers entitled “Virtual Reality IFE : Opportunities & Obstacles Addressed”. The paper, which has been published to coincide with IATA’s first ‘Aviation Virtual & Augmented Reality Summit’ in Geneva, aims to further the industry’s understanding of VR IFE as it stands today by exploring the opportunities it offers, as well as the obstacles and respective solutions for implementation.

72% of passengers are willing to adopt VR IFE over other IFE systems, according to an independent survey referenced in the paper. This figure is particularly pronounced among millennials and frequent flyers, at 75% and 80% respectively. With this in mind, the report argues VR IFE can enable airlines to ‘stand out from the crowd and secure a sustainable competitive advantage in the midst of increased competition and increasingly empowered consumers’.

“Leveraging VR as IFE makes a lot of sense on long-haul flights. It offers a remarkable customer experience that makes time fly and creates a feeling of space and privacy onboard.”, said Laurence Fornari, SkyLights’ Head of Sales and Marketing.

In exploring the obstacles of VR IFE highlighted in Gogo’s 2015 white paper ‘Head Mounted Displays for In-Flight Entertainment’, SkyLights’ study explains the solutions that are currently in place and the fast-paced progress that has been made in the field. It concludes that, thanks to advancements made in VR technology and content over the last three years, VR is now ready to deploy in-flight.

“There are two common objections to VR IFE. The first is VR sickness, which is resolved by offering a fixed-screen, cinematic experience, or carefully curating the increasingly abundant VR films that are suitable to view in-flight. At SkyLights, we do both. The second obstacle is passenger safety, which can be circumvented by enabling the cabin crew to pause VR headsets to make an announcement.”, said Rateb Zaouk, SkyLights’ Head of Operations.

While, in the short term, it is unlikely VR IFE will replace seatback screens on long-haul flights, the report explains the advantages of offering VR as an additional service to add value and differentiate the customer journey. Similarly, it suggests VR IFE and W-IFE can be combined for a low cost/high value entertainment offering.

Topics covered in the white paper include:

VR within the IFE ecosystem
Airline use cases
VR IFE content types
Opportunities for airlines
Obstacles to bringing VR IFE onboard

The report can be downloaded for free at;

http://www.skylights.aero/white-paper-vr-inflight-entertainment/

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, June 12, 2018 at 2:09 pm
Filed under News Releases · Tagged with Gogo, IATA, IFE, Skylights, VR

Inflight Wi-Fi Makes Passengers Feel Less Anxious, According to Gogo’s Most Recent Global Traveler Study

Chicago | May 31, 2018–In a world where constant connectivity is the norm, and stress among travelers is high, staying connected in flight is having a calming effect on passengers. According to Gogo’s most recent Global Traveler Study, more than 75 percent of travelers say having inflight internet makes them feel less anxious because they can stay in contact with friends and family on the ground. Sixty-five percent say it makes them feel less anxious because they can stay connected to work.

Not only do passengers want to be connected, their expectation is to be connected in the same way in flight as they are on the ground, which means multiple screens doing multiple activities.

“Today, we see a shift as inflight internet moves from being a luxury to an expectation for travelers around the world,” said Alyssa Hayes, Director of Insights at Gogo. “The importance of internet in the booking process has been increasing as now one-third of passengers are looking for inflight internet when they book their flights. The desire for people to stay connected and in contact with the ground is prevalent; passengers look to not just browse the internet but also engage with social media, read the news and check their email.”

Other key findings from the report include:

Mobile is king – in terms of devices brought on the plane, 90 percent of passengers bring a mobile device, 59 percent bring a laptop and 48 percent bring a tablet. However, laptops tend to stay in the bag as 62 percent of passengers use their mobile device in flight, 35 percent use a tablet and 34 percent use their laptop.
Online browsing dominates – a majority of passengers still say they want internet access for general browsing (75%) followed by social media (63%), checking email (60%) and reading news (60%). When it comes to streaming, 44 percent of passengers want to stream movies and TV shows in flight. YouTube, Netflix, and Spotify are the top desired sources for streaming content.
Seatback Screens aren’t dead – Passengers still like seatback screens. Half (47%) of air travelers prefer seatback screens in flight versus 33 percent who prefer their own personal devices. Travelers preferring seatback screens like the ease of use (more than half like that they don’t have to worry about charging their device). Among those preferring their personal devices, 65 percent cite privacy as the primary reason.
Multitasking is the norm – Multitasking in flight is the expectation, just as it is at home or at work. People are comfortable watching a movie on the seatback while texting colleagues on their smartphone.

The Gogo Global Traveler Research Study explores the changing behaviors of airline passengers across the world as it pertains to inflight connectivity and entertainment. The study has been significantly expanded for 2018 and now includes data gathered from more than 9,000 air travelers in 18 countries.

To learn more or to download the complete report, visit gogoair.com/globaltraveler.

Posted by Patricia on Sunday, June 3, 2018 at 5:27 pm
Filed under News Releases · Tagged with Connectivity, Global Traveler Study, Gogo, passengers

Gogo Welcomes Will Davis as Vice President of Investor Relations

Chicago, IL | May 29, 2018– Gogo (NASDAQ: GOGO), the leading global provider of broadband connectivity products and services for aviation, announced today that Will Davis has joined the company as Vice President of Investor Relations. He will report to Barry Rowan, Gogo’s Executive Vice President and CFO.

Stock Rover Reviews say that Davis brings nearly 20 years of wireless and communications industry experience in both Investor Relations and financial analyst roles to Gogo. Most recently, he was the Senior Vice President of Marketing & Chief of Staff of the combination of Lumos Networks and Spirit Communications, which is formed by EQT Infrastructure. This transaction closed in April 2018, creating one of the largest private, independent fiber bandwidth companies in the United States. Lumos Networks was taken private by EQT Infrastructure in November 2017 for approximately $1 billion.

“Will’s experience and expertise in the communications infrastructure industry, as well as his deep relationships within the financial markets will be incredibly valuable in helping drive value for Gogo and its shareholders,” said Gogo’s President and CEO, Oakleigh Thorne. “We are excited to have him on the Gogo team.”

In his five years at Lumos Networks, Davis was responsible for educating both institutional investors as well as Wall Street analysts on the company’s strategic repositioning into a premier communications infrastructure player. During this time, the EBITDA trading multiple doubled. He also played an active role in assessing ongoing strategic opportunities, including M&A and the potential sale of the company.

Prior to Lumos Networks, Davis was an Associate Director in sell-side research at UBS, covering wireless and telecom equipment companies. He also served as the wireless analyst at a large global tech-focused hedge fund with assets of approximately $5 billion. Additionally, he served as a Director of Investor Relations at Nokia. During his tenure, Nokia had a market capitalization of over $100 billion.

“In addition to welcoming Will, I also want to thank Varvara Alva, who previously served as Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer,” added Thorne. “As our head of investor relations and treasury functions, Varvara was instrumental in leading Gogo through our IPO in 2013, building relationships with institutional investors and Wall Street analysts and managing Gogo’s capitalization work over the last decade.”

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, May 29, 2018 at 1:41 pm
Filed under News Releases · Tagged with Gogo, Investor Relations, Will Davis

Gogo Opens New Logistics Facility in Europe

Chicago, Illinois | May 16, 2018– Today we are announcing that we have opened a logistics hub based in Amsterdam. The Amsterdam warehouse will stock and ship Gogo 2Ku parts directly to Airline and OEM customers. This hub will offer the same capabilities as the existing Gogo facility located outside of Chicago.

The Amsterdam logistics hub is already in operation and is being managed in partnership with Kuehne and Nagel, one of the world’s leading global transport and logistics company based in Switzerland.

“We believe that expanding these capabilities closer to our airline customers as well as our OEM partners will provide them with the support and flexibility they need during the ramp-up of installing and operating the 2Ku inflight connectivity solution,” said John Wade, president of Gogo’s commercial aviation division. “Partnering with Kuehne + Nagel will strengthen our global supply chain to meet the needs of our customers as we continue to grow internationally.”

Posted by Patricia on Friday, May 18, 2018 at 1:48 pm
Filed under News Releases · Tagged with 2Ku, Airlines, Gogo, Kuehne and Nagel, OEM

Gogo Business Aviation Hits Milestone with 100th Business Jet Now Flying with AVANCE L5 System

Gogo Reaches Mark in Six Months, Bringing 4G Experience to 35 Popular Business Jet Models

Broomfield, Colorado | March 21, 2018– It took just six months for Gogo Business Aviation (NASDAQ: GOGO), the leading global provider of broadband connectivity products and services for aviation, to reach a major milestone with the 100^th installation of a Gogo AVANCE^TM L5 system. The install was recently completed by Constant Aviation on an Embraer Legacy 500 for a prestigious mid-west U.S.-based flight department.

More than 275 AVANCE L5 systems have been shipped with hundreds of additional systems on back order and scheduled for delivery in 2018 – highlighting how popular the system has been thus far in the business aviation marketplace. In total, Gogo expects to have approximately 500 installations of the new system by the end of 2018.

AVANCE L5 systems are actively being installed at all MROs and aftermarket OEM service centers. To date, Gogo and its OEM partners and dealers have received type certificate and supplemental type certificate (STC) approvals for AVANCE L5 from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) across more than 35 airframes. Gogo and its partners are securing STCs for more than 25 additional airframes in the coming months, meaning AVANCE L5 will be available for installation on more than 55 business jet platforms.

“The demand for AVANCE L5 has been overwhelming,” said Sergio Aguirre, president of Gogo Business Aviation. “The reports we’re receiving from those who are using L5 have been extremely positive and the system is performing as expected. Our mission now is to get our product manufacturing caught up with the demand, and we’re making tremendous progress on that front every day.”

Gogo AVANCE L5 connects to the Gogo Biz 4G network delivering faster speeds and enhanced network capacity enabling activities such as live streaming video and audio, video conferencing, on-demand movies, personal smartphone use, real-time data for cockpit apps, and remote diagnostics and support while in flight.

“Flight departments, passengers and owners appreciate both the value and the enhanced inflight connectivity experience the AVANCE L5 delivers for everyone on board,” said Jay Rizzo, executive vice president of strategic sales at Constant Aviation. “In addition to the installations completed thus far for Gogo, Constant Aviation has more than 50 AVANCE L5 installations scheduled before the end of 2018. We’re pleased to partner with Gogo to help bring this technology to the cabin and improve the quality of air travel through a better inflight Wi-Fi experience.”

Constant Aviation, a premier full-service MRO with a nationwide network, has secured STCs for Gulfstream, Cessna, Embraer and Bombardier airframes.

“The manufacturers, and our dealers and operators saw the value AVANCE L5 could deliver with a proven and reliable network,” Aguirre continued. “We are grateful to the maintenance directors and avionics leads who offered aircraft for the STC process.”

Gogo AVANCE is an innovative software-centric approach that combines Gogo’s advanced hardware and software technology to create a fully integrated, aviation-grade inflight connectivity and entertainment platform. The platform enables connected aviation technologies, services and applications like never before.

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, March 27, 2018 at 2:21 pm
Filed under News Releases · Tagged with AVANCE L5 System, Business Aviation, Gogo

Gogo, ViaSat, A350 XWB, and More …

Wow! there is a lot going on in the business and we start off with a new Gogo President, Oakleigh Thorne, a big stockholder who has a history of 30 years of leadership experience – here is the release:

Gogo

Gogo announced that Oakleigh Thorne has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Thorne’s appointment follows the mutual decision by Michael J. Small and the Gogo Board of Directors for Mr. Small to step down as President and Chief Executive Officer, and as a director of the Company. Mr. Thorne, a director of the Company since 2003, has approximately 30 years of leadership experience with significant operational and financial expertise. He currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Thorndale Farm LLC, the family office of the Thorne family, which is the largest Gogo shareholder, owning approximately 30 percent of the Company’s outstanding common stock. Mr. Thorne has served in numerous senior management positions, including as Chief Executive Officer of two public companies.

From May 2000 until July 2007, Mr. Thorne served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of eCollege.com. Under Mr. Thorne’s leadership, he drove a five-fold increase in equity value which culminated in the sale of the company for more than $500 million. Earlier in his career, Mr. Thorne served as Chief Executive Officer of Commerce Clearing House (CCH) and led a significant operational transformation that culminated in CCH’s $1.9 billion sale to Wolters Kluwer in 1996.

“I am excited to work with the Gogo team as we move forward with urgency to execute on four strategic priorities: driving quality for airlines and passengers, sharpening our operational focus, achieving profitability with the money we have in the bank and driving shareholder value,” said Mr. Thorne. “We are highly confident in our ability to achieve our strategic and financial objectives as we improve execution and realize our significant growth opportunities.”

Ronald T. LeMay, Chairman of the Gogo Board of Directors, said, “With our best-in-class technology and capabilities, the Board believes that Gogo has a clear path to achieving our objectives and that now is the right time to transition leadership. After a comprehensive search process, the Board determined that Oak is the best person to help Gogo achieve our next phase of growth. Oak is a seasoned executive with a strong track record and his interests are aligned with all shareholders. Oak has made significant contributions to Gogo as a member of our Board and has a deep understanding of our business, strategy and operations. On behalf of the Board, we also thank Michael for building Gogo into a global leader and we wish him the best.”

(Editor’s Note: 2Ku has had success both in North America and internationally as well with some significant carriers selecting their 2Ku satellite offering: Delta, American, British Airways, Air France and Cathay Pacific – to name a few. As many of us in the industry are aware, Gogo has experienced some difficulties with the 2Ku antenna -oscillation along with a few other technical issues as well, which we hear the company is addressing. It is IFExpress’ speculation that stockholders are concerned with their investment given the aforementioned issues and the fact that Gogo has not seen a profitable quarter since their IPO in 2011. If we were an investor, we would also be worried about the new telecommunications coming down the pipe within the next few years – possibly 5G, and what that will mean for Gogo, as well as, other legacy connectivity providers in the IFEC realm. As a result, we wouldn’t be surprised to find Gogo courting a major telecom to help solve some of these problems in the very near future.)

ViaSat

Today, communications company Viasat debuted the fastest satellite internet available in the US — up to 100 megabits per second. It’s thanks to the Via-Sat 2 satellite system, which serves North America, Central America, the Caribbean and a small part of northern South America. Viasat is now also offering tiered unlimited data plans, from 12 to 30 megabits per second. The plans top out at $100 per month.

One of the goals of satellite internet is to provide a high-speed internet connection to homes located in areas that don’t have the ground infrastructure to support it. “The innovations we’re making across our satellite system allow us to do extraordinary things, from moving the satellite industry up-market by delivering premium services, speeds and plans that give consumers new choices in their internet service provider, to helping bridge the digital divide in the U.S. today,” said Mark Dankberg, Viasat’s chairman and CEO, in a statement. In addition to home internet, Viasat is also planning on using its Via-Sat 2 satellite to provide faster and more reliable domestic in-flight internet.

Satellite internet is becoming a bigger market, as the cost of access to space is lowered thanks to companies like SpaceX. Indeed, SpaceX itself is dipping its toes into the arena with the recent launch of two prototype satellites in its planned constellation.

Via-Sat 2 may have just launched in June of 2017, but the company is already working on the three-satellite Via-Sat 3 constellation. The new system is designed to blanket the world in high-speed internet access, with data speeds of up to 1 terabyte per second. It’s scheduled to launch in 2020 for America’s satellite, with the two covering the rest of the world to follow.

(Editor’s Note: We asked nice-guy, Don Buchman, Vice President and General Manager, Commercial Aviation to give our readers a bit more on the growing ViaSat inflight connectivity solution, and he told IFExpress: “We know our airline customers and their passengers expect a great Wi-Fi experience, gate-to-gate. We invested in ViaSat-2, our next-generation satellite and ground network technology, to further extend our lead in offering airlines the most capacity available in the sky with even better economics. These factors enable us to give more airlines, their passengers and their crew faster speeds and higher-quality connectivity at the best in-flight connectivity cost.

It’s our job to ensure our in-flight internet service matches our customers’ high standards and expectations. Our ViaSat-2 satellite system nearly double the capacity of ViaSat-1, which means we can deliver even faster speeds; serve higher streaming demands—even in highly-congested air corridors and hubs; and enable optimal video streaming capabilities for the best in-flight viewing experiences onboard. Additionally, ViaSat-2 offers seven times more coverage as compared to ViaSat-1, which means we can now provide the highest-quality internet service to more locations, including: across the continental U.S., to the Caribbean and across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe. And finally, ViaSat-2 essentially doubles the bandwidth economics over our prior generation satellite system, which enables us to offer in-flight internet service at the best cost to the airline.

Our technology takes a substantial leap forward—compared to any other in-flight internet service—which allows us to connect more passengers today, while accommodating the broadband demands of tomorrow.”)

Crystal Cabin Awards

In 2018 there are now 24 pioneering finalists for on-board innovations, the winners to be announced as every year, as part of the leading global trade fair for aircraft cabins, the Aircraft Interiors Expo (10 – 12 April in Hamburg), at a gala dinner to be held at the Hotel Atlantic Kempinski on the evening of Monday, 10 April. The winners will then present their concepts once more at the Expo in the Crystal Cabin Award Gallery, Hall B3, 1st floor, on Thursday 12 April, at 11 AM. Information on all finalists will be available there throughout the entire Expo.2018 finalists: 24 pioneering on-board innovations for airliners | CRYSTAL CABIN AWARD

Big Data/AI

It looks like Boeing and Microsoft are partnering for a efforts in the Big Data and AI and you can learn more here:Boeing and Microsoft: Taking the next step together in digital aviation – Transform and here Your next Boeing flight may be getting a cloud and AI upgrade, courtesy of Microsoft – TechRepublic We do understand the deal will focus on Big Data to improve fuel consumption and improve maintenance. Further, you can be sure these two technologies will make their way into aviation and travel to improve the flight experience more and more in the next few years.

Airbus

The first Ultra Long Range version of the A350 XWB has rolled out of the Airbus final assembly line in Toulouse. The latest variant of the best-selling A350 XWB Family will be able to fly further than any other commercial airliner and will enter service with launch operator Singapore Airlines later this year. Altogether, Singapore Airlines has ordered seven A350-900 Ultra Long Range aircraft, which it will use on non-stop flights between Singapore and the US, including the world’s longest commercial service between Singapore and New York.

Following completion of the airframe assembly, the first aircraft has now moved to an outdoor station where it will undergo extensive ground tests, prior to installation of its Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines.

The aircraft will then embark on a short flight test program to certify the changes over the standard A350-900 that will bring the additional range capability. These include a modified fuel system that increases fuel carrying capacity by 24,000 L or 6340 Gal., without the need for additional fuel tanks. The test phase will also measure enhanced performance derived from aerodynamic improvements, including extended winglets.

With a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 280 tonnes, the A350 XWB Ultra Long Range is capable of flying up to 9,700 nautical miles or over 20 hours non-stop, combining the highest levels of passenger and crew comfort with unbeatable economics for such distances.

The A350 XWB is an all new family of widebody long-haul airliners shaping the future of air travel. The A350 XWB features the latest aerodynamic design, carbon fibre fuselage and wings, plus new fuel-efficient Rolls-Royce engines. Together, these latest technologies translate into unrivaled levels of operational efficiency, with a 25 per cent reduction in fuel burn and emissions, and significantly lower maintenance costs. The A350 XWB features an Airspace by Airbus cabin offering absolute well-being on board with the quietest twin-aisle cabin and new air systems.

To date, Airbus has recorded a total of 854 firm orders for the A350 XWB from 45 customers worldwide, already making it one of the most successful widebody aircraft ever. Singapore Airlines is one of the largest customers for the A350 XWB Family, having ordered a total of 67 A350-900s, including the seven Ultra Long Range models. The carrier has already taken delivery of 21 A350-900s.

Other Stuff

Yesterday. Boeing reported that while some 60+ B767’s planes were at a high interest level by a “large US airline”, but then announced that it is not coming back. Performance and efficiency are probably the issues.
If security is your thing, you must check out this story in DARKReading by Zeus Kerravala because it outlines the changes in the cybersecurity landscape in 4 focused concerns (1 Malware is becoming self-propagating, 2. Ransomware is not only for ransom, 3. Adversaries are stepping up their evasion capabilities, and 4. The Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming a significant threat vector) and some good recommendations. How & Why the Cybersecurity Landscape Is Changing And yes, cyberattacks increased 82% last quarter! Cyberattacks per firm increased by 82%, reveals Fortinet report | Networks Asia | Asia’s Source for Enterprise Network Knowledge
President Donald Trump has reached a deal with Boeing for a pair of 747 jumbo jets to be modified into Air Force One planes, the White House announced Tuesday. The deal is worth $3.9 billion, according to Reuters.
Yes, you can buy a Boeing jetliner with a Prayer Space: Boeing’s Inflight Prayer Space Concept Catering To Religious Needs | Aircraft Interiors content from Aviation Week
And we know this is not aviation, but it certainly is a change of times – “For the very first time in the history of Girl Scouts, millions of them are taking on hacking and other cyber-security concerns as they work and struggle towards earning newly introduced badges of cyber-security, nationwide. Girl Scouts from the USA joined hands with the security company, Palo Alto Networks to establish such a syllabus that gives education to young girls about the basic study of computer networks, cyber-security, and online safety.” Girl Scouts fight cybercrime with new cybersecurity badge

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, March 6, 2018 at 6:17 pm
Filed under Hot Topics · Tagged with Airlines, Delta, Gogo, IFE, IFEC, Wi-Fi

Gogo AVANCE L3 Receives PMA and STC From FAA

AVANCE L3 Has Small, Lightweight Form Factor and Affordable Pricing Options

Broomfield, CO | February 7, 2018– Gogo Business Aviation’s innovative new inflight connectivity system – Gogo AVANCE^TM L3 – has received Supplemental Type Certification (STC) and Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA) from the FAA.

The latest connectivity solution from Gogo (NASDAQ: GOGO) lets users customize their inflight experience based on their unique needs and can be installed on business aircraft of all types, sizes and ages, but is an ideal solution for smaller aircraft including turboprops and light jets. Gogo is actively fulfilling orders that have already been booked and installations are underway via Gogo’s dealer network.

AVANCE L3 delivers the benefits of the Gogo AVANCE platform to passengers and flight departments in a small, lightweight form factor, with the most affordable pricing options in business aviation. The AVANCE platform integrates a full range of Smart Cabin features, allowing passengers to simply and reliably access and use all available data, voice, maps, entertainment and cabin management system (CMS) services.

By leveraging the AVANCE platform, the L3 delivers an unparalleled level of flexibility so users can adjust their system’s capabilities up or down without anyone needing to board the aircraft. Once installed, if a customer’s needs change and they want more or fewer capabilities, Gogo can make the adjustments to the system remotely.

“AVANCE L3 delivers the ultimate in flexibility,” said Mike Syverson, senior vice president of development for Gogo Business Aviation. “The AVANCE software-centric platform gives us capabilities that are transformative to business aviation. Users are no longer constrained by the hardware itself and there’s no need for downtime in a hangar if business needs evolve and require different service levels.”

The new system provides a level of flexibility not seen before in business aviation that allows operators to tailor their passengers’ experience and control and manage the number of devices they allow to connect.

Using AVANCE L3, anyone onboard the aircraft can stay connected to email; send text messages and make voice calls with Gogo Text & Talk (service plan required); access their favorite flight apps such as moving maps, weather and flight information; or watch movies and TV shows using Gogo Vision (service plan required). For customers looking for full internet connectivity, AVANCE L3 can be enabled to connect to the Gogo Biz data network delivering a 3G experience. It’s the ultimate in scalability and flexibility.

Three service offerings are available:

Gogo’s dealers and OEM partners are actively pursuing multiple STCs that will certify the Gogo AVANCE L3 system for installation across a variety of business aircraft models. Most other business aircraft models will also be available for Gogo AVANCE L3 system installation utilizing existing STCs.

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, February 13, 2018 at 3:42 pm
Filed under News Releases · Tagged with Airlines, AVANCE L3, connecitivity, Gogo, Gogo Vision, IFE, IFEC, passengers

Air Canada Offers Altitude Members the Choice of Complimentary Gogo Wi-Fi

Chicago | November 28, 2017– Gogo (NASDAQ: GOGO), the leading global provider of broadband connectivity products and services for aviation, announced today that Air Canada is now the first North American airline to offer the choice of complimentary Gogo Wi-Fi to their most frequent flyers.

Each year, Air Canada recognizes its most frequent flyers with Altitude status and offers them the ability to choose select privileges to personalize their travel experience. Beginning later this year, the airline will offer Altitude Elite 75K and Super Elite 100K members the opportunity to select complimentary 6- and 12-month unlimited use passes, respectively, for inflight connectivity on board Air Canada, Air Canada Express and Air Canada Rouge operated flights.

“We are delighted to partner with Air Canada to bring the industry’s leading inflight connectivity solution to their loyal customers for free,” said John Happ, Gogo’s Regional President, Americas. “Gogo is finding new ways to leverage connectivity to enable unique experiences for our airline partners that fit their individual needs. Free Gogo for Air Canada’s most frequent customers is a great example of how we are delivering on this for our airline partners.”

“Earlier this year, Air Canada announced plans to launch an all new, digital-first loyalty program in June 2020. While we design the future program, we’re committed to adding new options and benefits for Altitude members today and over the next two years,” said Mark Nasr, Vice President Loyalty & eCommerce. “In-flight Wi-Fi is a critical amenity for business and leisure travelers alike, so we’re excited to become the first North American airline to offer the choice of unlimited Wi-Fi plans to our most frequent Altitude members.”

Members will be able to choose this Select Privilege as part of the 2018 Altitude benefit year. The passes will also be eligible for use on Gogo’s 2Ku service, a leading high-speed satellite Wi-Fi solution.

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, December 5, 2017 at 12:22 am
Filed under News Releases · Tagged with 2Ku, Airlines, Broadband, Gogo, Ku Band, Satcom

Air Canada Offers Altitude Members the Choice of Complimentary Gogo Wi-Fi

Chicago | November 28, 2017–Gogo (NASDAQ: GOGO), the leading global provider of broadband connectivity products and services for aviation, announced today that Air Canada is now the first North American airline to offer the choice of complimentary Gogo Wi-Fi to their most frequent flyers.

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, November 28, 2017 at 2:52 pm
Filed under News Releases · Tagged with Airlines, Connectivity, Gogo, Wi-Fi

Cathay Pacific Group Selects Gogo for Inflight Connectivity

Cathay Pacific Becomes First Large Global Fleet in Asia to Select Gogo’s 2Ku Inflight Connectivity Solution

Chicago, IL | November 16, 2017– Gogo (NASDAQ: GOGO), the leading global provider of broadband connectivity products and services for aviation, announced today that it has been selected by the Cathay Pacific Group to install Gogo’s 2Ku inflight connectivity solution on its wide-body fleet.
The carrier will install 2Ku on its Airbus A330 and Boeing 777 aircraft across Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon fleets, which are both part of the Cathay Pacific Group.

2Ku is the industry’s leading inflight connectivity solution and delivers an internet experience comparable to what passengers have on the ground.
“We are excited to partner with Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon to bring their guests a new onboard connectivity experience with 2Ku,” said Michael Small, Gogo’s president and CEO. “As a premier global airline group, and Hong Kong’s flagship carrier, Cathay passengers expect a premium experience, which 2Ku is delivering today with superior bandwidth, coverage and availability.”
With more than 2,000 aircraft awards, 2Ku is the most rapidly adopted satellite-based broadband connectivity technology in aviation. The technology has been adopted by leading airlines in North America, South America, Europe and now Asia.

“Our goal is to allow our customers to be connected anytime and anywhere – and this agreement with Gogo is a huge step in enabling us to deliver this,” said Paul Loo, Cathay Pacific Chief Customer and Commercial Officer.”

2Ku will give Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon’s guests a seamless experience across their existing fleet of wide-body aircraft. The service is expected to go live by mid-2018.

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, November 21, 2017 at 7:12 pm
Filed under News Releases · Tagged with Airlines, Asia, Connectivity, Gogo, IFEC, Ku Band

Share: Gogo Conducts First Successful Test Flight on its Next Generation ATG Network

Chicago | October 31, 2017–Gogo (NASDAQ: GOGO), the leading global provider of broadband connectivity products and services for aviation, announced it has conducted its first successful test flight and has begun the nationwide rollout of its new regional Air-to-Ground (ATG) inflight network.

The next generation ATG network combined with Gogo’s proprietary aero antenna, in-cabin network and software platform will bring up to 30 times more bandwidth to an aircraft than our original ATG solution. Once the network upgrades are complete, Gogo will have a North American ATG solution that will deliver performance on the aircraft that is comparable to Gogo’s 2Ku global satellite solution.

Gogo’s next generation ATG network will have peak network capacity of more than 100 Gbps. When combined with Gogo’s global satellite network, Gogo will have the highest capacity network ever built that’s dedicated to serving aviation.

“Our networks and inflight connectivity solutions are dedicated to serving aviation and today we are delivering more bandwidth to deliver a better passenger experience and support our aviation partners’ operations,” said Michael Small, Gogo’s president and CEO.

Our next generation ATG network utilizes unlicensed spectrum in the 2.4GHz spectrum band as well as the licensed spectrum from Gogo’s original ATG network to provide greater bandwidth and reliability. It also leverages Gogo’s existing ATG network backhaul and infrastructure of more than 250 cell towers. On the aircraft, Gogo has developed a proprietary new antenna and modem that will produce peak speeds of more than 100 Mbps per aircraft.

The solution will be ideal for business aviation aircraft, commercial regional jets and select mainline aircraft operating in the U.S. For business aviation aircraft, this service will be available as an upgrade to aircraft already equipped with Gogo’s Avance L5 connectivity solution. For commercial aviation, any aircraft outfitted with equipment designed to leverage Gogo’s first generation ATG network will simply need to be outfitted with a new modem and blade antenna to take advantage of the new service. The network will be available in 2018.

Posted by Patricia on Tuesday, October 31, 2017 at 2:27 pm
Filed under News Releases · Tagged with Air-To-Ground, ATG, Broadband, Communications, Connectivity, Gogo, Inflight, Wi-Fi

Gogo Inc. Announces Launch of $100 Million Senior Secured Notes Offering

Chicago, IL | September 20, 2017 — Gogo Inc. (“Gogo”) (NASDAQ:GOGO) announced the commencement of a private offering of $100 million aggregate principal amount of additional 12.500% senior secured notes due 2022 (the “Additional Notes”) to be issued by its direct wholly owned subsidiary, Gogo Intermediate Holdings LLC (the “Issuer”), and its indirect wholly owned subsidiary, Gogo Finance Co. Inc. (the “Co-Issuer” and, together with the Issuer, the “Issuers”). The Issuers’ 12.500% Senior Secured Notes due 2022 were previously issued in an aggregate principal amount of $525 million on June 14, 2016 and in an aggregate principal amount of $65 million on January 3, 2017 (collectively, the “Previously Issued Notes”). The Additional Notes and the Previously Issued Notes will be treated as the same series for all purposes under the indenture and collateral agreements, each as amended and supplemented, that govern the Initial Notes and will govern the Additional Notes. The Additional Notes will be guaranteed on a senior secured basis by Gogo and all of the existing and future domestic restricted subsidiaries of the Issuer (other than the Co-Issuer), subject to certain exceptions (the “Guarantors”). The Additional Notes and the related guarantees will be secured by first priority liens on substantially all of the Issuers’ and the Guarantors’ assets, including pledged equity interests of the Issuers and the Guarantors. There can be no assurance that the proposed offering of Additional Notes will be completed.

The Issuer intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of the Additional Notes to accelerate the commercial rollout of Gogo’s next-generation global satellite solution, 2Ku, for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

The Additional Notes and the guarantees will be offered in a private offering exempt from the registration requirements of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The Additional Notes and the guarantees will be offered only to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act and to non-U.S. persons outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act.

The consummation of the offering of the Additional Notes will be conditioned upon, among other things, satisfaction or waiver of the conditions to the previously announced consent solicitation with respect to the Notes, including obtaining the valid and unrevoked consents from holders of Previously Issued Notes as of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on September 13, 2017 holding no less than a majority in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding Previously Issued Notes, excluding Previously Issued Notes held by the Issuers or any affiliates of the Issuers (the “Requisite Consents”), on or prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on September 20, 2017, unless extended or earlier terminated by the Issuers, and, if the Requisite Consents are obtained, the execution of a supplemental indenture to the indenture governing the Previously Issued Notes, providing for the proposed amendments to the indenture, including an increase in the amount of additional secured indebtedness that may be incurred by the Issuer and its restricted subsidiaries.

The Additional Notes and the guarantees have not been registered under the Securities Act and may not be offered or sold in the United Statesabsent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state laws.

This press release is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to sell or purchase nor the solicitation of an offer to sell or purchase securities and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which, or to any person to whom, such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding Gogo’s financing plans, including statements related to the Issuers’ offering of the Additional Notes and intended use of net proceeds of the offering, that are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, risks related to whether the Issuers will consummate the offering of the Additional Notes on the expected terms, or at all, market and other general economic conditions, whether the Issuers and the Guarantors will be able to satisfy the conditions required to close any sale of the Additional Notes, and the fact that Gogo’s management will have broad discretion in the use of the proceeds from any sale of the Additional Notes. Forward-looking statements represent the beliefs and assumptions of Gogo only as of the date of this press release and Gogo undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. As such, Gogo’s future results may vary from any expectations or goals expressed in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements included in this press release, possibly to a material degree.. For a discussion of some of the important factors that could cause Gogo’s results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements included in this press release, investors should refer to the disclosure contained under the headings “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in Gogo’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

Posted by Patricia on Sunday, September 24, 2017 at 1:06 pm
Filed under News Releases · Tagged with Finance, Gogo, Issuer, Notes, offering, stock

Gogo Inc. Announces Successful Consent Solicitation with Respect to Senior Secured Notes due 2022

Chicago, IL | September 20, 2017 — Gogo Inc. (“Gogo”) (NASDAQ:GOGO) today announced that with respect to the previously announced consent solicitation with respect to the 12.500% senior secured notes due 2022 (the “Notes”) issued by Gogo’s direct wholly owned subsidiary, Gogo Intermediate Holdings LLC (the “Issuer”), and its indirect wholly owned subsidiary, Gogo Finance Co. Inc. (together with the Issuer, the “Issuers”), the Issuers have received consents from holders of at least a majority in aggregate principal amount of the Notes (excluding Notes held by the Issuers or any affiliates of the Issuers) as of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on September 13, 2017.

In conjunction with receiving the requisite consents, the Issuers, Gogo and certain subsidiaries of the Issuer, as guarantors (Gogo and such subsidiaries, the “Guarantors”), and U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee (the “Trustee”), entered into the first supplemental indenture (the “Supplemental Indenture”) to the indenture governing the Notes, dated as of June 14, 2016 (the “Indenture”), to effect the proposed amendments to the Indenture (collectively, the “Indenture Amendments”). The purpose of the Indenture Amendments is to provide Gogo and its subsidiaries with additional flexibility under the Indenture to opportunistically raise additional financing and to facilitate the growth of Gogo’s business. The Supplemental Indenture became effective immediately upon execution.

In addition, the Issuers and the Guarantors, as grantors (the “Grantors”), and U.S. Bank National Association, as collateral agent (the “Collateral Agent”), entered into the collateral agreement amendment (the “CAA”), which amended the collateral agreement, dated as of June 14, 2016 (the “Collateral Agreement”), made by the Grantors in favor of the Collateral Agent, to effect the proposed amendments to the Collateral Agreement (the “Collateral Agreement Amendments” and, together with the Indenture Amendments, the “Amendments”). The purpose of the Collateral Agreement Amendments is to reduce the administrative burden on Gogo and its subsidiaries with respect to foreign intellectual property-related matters. The CAA became effective immediately upon execution.

Within 10 business days of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on September 20, 2017 (the “Expiration Date”), the Issuer will pay, or cause to be paid, to each Note holder who validly delivered (and did not validly revoke) a consent a cash payment of $2.50 for each $1,000 of principal amount of Notes in respect of which such consent was delivered. Following execution of the Supplemental Indenture and the CAA, any consents given may not be revoked.

This announcement is for informational purposes only and is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any Notes or any other securities. This announcement is also not a solicitation of consents with respect to the Amendments or any securities. The solicitation of consents was made pursuant to the terms of the Consent Solicitation Statement and the related Letter of Consent. The solicitation of consents was not made in any jurisdiction in which, or to or from any person to or from whom, it is unlawful to make such solicitation under applicable state or foreign securities or “blue sky” laws.

Any inquiries regarding the consent solicitation may be directed to D.F. King & Co., Inc., as information, tabulation and paying agent for the consent solicitation, at (877) 283-0325 (toll-free), (212) 269-5500 (collect) or by email at gogo@dfking.com, or to the solicitation agent for the consent solicitation, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, at (800) 624-1808 (toll-free) or (212) 761-1057 (collect).

Posted by Patricia on Sunday, September 24, 2017 at 1:04 pm
Filed under News Releases · Tagged with Finance, Gogo, Notes, secured, senior, stock

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Power, Power, Power... it used to be location, location, location, but with the recent airline announcements to expand off-aircraft data services (internet, mobile phone, SMS, etc), Astronics is excited about the complementary nature of these systems with our world leading EmPower® in-seat PED power systems. Most airlines installing new data services on their aircraft are also expanding EmPower® into all seats on their fleet because they realize depleted passenger batteries do not make money.”
- Mike Hettich, Vice President, Astronics
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